WWE Payback 2017: Assessing The Potential Quality Of All 8 Matches
It won't be a "b*tch" to get through, at least.
On Sunday, WWE presents Payback - the first pay-per-view offering of WWE's apparent new "season" of television.
If WrestleMania was WWE's season finale (a cruel joke to the battered performers with no holiday allocation) Payback is the epilogue - a series of addendums designed to wring every last beat out of an existing story before the Superstar Shake-Up can begin proper. If the WrestleMania-as-season-finale bit is gallows humour for the performers, the punchline falls flat for the fanbase, too. Of the eight matches penned in, no less than four are retreads of matches we've seen very recently and or with brain-numbing frequency already.
The distinct air of inconvenience surrounds it: the show was clearly scheduled before the date of the Shake-Up was formalised. All hope isn't lost because WWE tends to deliver on the biggest stage - but if Fastlane is any indication, laziness and apathy can breed contempt and tedium. The card is strong on paper, but so was Fastlane - and that event was marred by dire time mismanagement.
Eight matches and one segment - that being Finn Bálor's appearance on Miz TV, a cup of coffee and a Coup de Grâce - have been announced for Sunday. Those matches might deliver - but the results have already been written down...
8. The Club Vs. Enzo & Cass
If it wasn't scheduled for the Kickoff portion of the show, the next natural fit would surely be the semi final death spot; this dynamic is beyond stale and devoid almost entirely of stakes and intrigue.
There is a maximum three star ceiling erected above it. It barely even works as a crowd-popping curtain-jerker because Enzo and Cass have suffered a sharp dip in popularity away from the familiar and friendly Full Sail environment. It doesn't help that the tone of their act has been mangled beyond recognition on the flagship. Enzo, once an affable pest, has devolved into an utter irritant. Big Cass meanwhile is Big Cass; he has a distinct and one-dimensional role, and he plays it well enough often enough.
But both men, even after years of experience, are still prone to botching - and even if the match is smooth and free of errors, it can only be an inconsequential and fine affair. The Club tandem of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are still barely over.
An eager arena audience might help it along, but it would sets eyes rolling if it were to take place on RAW. The match would be an insult if it were promoted on the main card in the pre-Network era - hardly the stuff of promise.