Payback, Also Known as "That Prolapsed Result of Overthinking"

Payback...happened. It had the usual big hype for the first pay-per-view following the WrestleMania insanity every year and then some with the main event that no one could have predicted for perhaps all time. If this was 2014, no one would have been able to tell you Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles would main event a WWE show, let alone the post-WrestleMania pay-per-view. That along with the very first main roster match between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens made for intrigue like wildfire.

The night started tragically when Enzo Amore just minutes into the Number One Contender's tag match was severely injured while being thrown from the ring. His head and neck snapped around viciously and Enzo went limp and motionless for way too long. Everyone involved in the match quickly went towards the situation for any kind of news while the WWE cameras focused on the announcers which made for an eerie moment for any of us that lived through the Owen Hart incident in 1999. Luckily, it is said Enzo is not in critical condition yet suffered a very severe concussion. What a shame for a dynamite act that just came to the roster. All my thoughts go out to Enzo as a man.

However, Owens and Zayn quickly changed the mood and delivered a wonderful match. It was a war from the start and one of equal value with each man countering the other constantly. Usually I'd say that's poor psychology yet with the history amongst these two, it felt right. Both men throw out all the stops and had a very strong MOTY contender but that wasn't a shock for those of us that have seen them dance before. Perhaps the best part came at the end of the match when Owens brought Byron Saxton into the ring to give him an interview, which ended up being Owens screwing with Byron and talking about going after the IC title. Then he does commentary for Miz vs Cesaro for the title and it was fantastic.

I didn't like Miz vs Cesaro. I don't know if it was that they didn't have good chemistry or if there was just no way of following Zayn vs Owens. Cesaro looked very good so I'll go with Miz being off. Maryse was mostly useless during this match and Cesaro mounted a badass comeback when Owens and Zayn began to brawl on the floor and spilled into the ring, letting Miz get a chicken shit roll up win. Owens responded by murdering everyone in the ring and snatching the belt. This feels very 2015 Ambrose to me.

Speaking of Ambrose, he faced Jericho in a very disjointed match for me. I figured out why so many people dog on Jericho and it's because his pacing has really declined. He hits a move, goes for a pin, and immediately goes to fucking around before doing another move or spot. It doesn't feel organic anymore and Ambrose did all he could to make this feel special. The crowd did great though and responded to a good deal of the big moves in this but it still didn't feel good to me. The finish was really weird too with Ambrose struggling for his finish and finally hits a really sloppy version to win. I'm hoping this is a one-off and we get more main eventing Ambrose because he's money. The guy sells very well and takes bumps so uniquely, not to mention I think his psychology is sound for this modern style and his promos can be great if he's allowed to do his thing.

We then got the McMahons. Vince said he made a choice and the choice to run RAW was? Stephanie and Shane together. It went over like a fart in church because of all this build but it is typical WWE thinking. However this decision actually did wonders to the main event.

Charlotte against Natalya was alright. I just feel like Charlotte, much like Jericho but worse, is so disjointed and lacks any true psychology on how to put a match together or be a character. She feels forced and truth be told, I just feel as if she's the weakest link of the main roster “marquee” womens wrestlers like Sasha, Becky, fuck even Naomi is capable of showing more than Charlotte when she's on. Natalya is a classic case of a missed chance. She spent several years in Japan paying insane dues in a very crazy Joshi world at a time when the luster was all but gone from the glory days of that style. Natalya managed to work and work and got to WWE and instantly seemed destined to be the future of the division. Then she got caught up in the LayCool bullshit around 2008 and 2009 and it felt as though she was forgotten as a wrestler in favor of managing her husband Tyson Kidd. Tonight she looked very impressive and perhaps the best she has looked in many years. The finish was a complete joke because it was a complete copy of the Montreal Screwjob. With Bret Hart there. Right after having prostate cancer surgery. Sure enough though, Bret and Natalya put on stereo sharpshooters on the Flairs and all was well in Chicago. At least for then. GIVE THE STRAP TO SASHA OR BECKY NAO THANKS.

The main event had a special feeling around it going in for me. Much of that reasoning came from how WWE has handled similar situations in the past. The two major examples are Punk vs Cena in 2011, in Chicago oddly enough; as well as Daniel Bryan against Cena in 2013. In those matches, two “indy darlings” who were seen as undersized conquered the WWE hierarchy and ascended to the top. Of course both of those wins had controversy and bullshit booking attached so it was something to consider. I felt like the match started fine. It seemed as though Roman would play his power game while AJ survived with his speed and experience. AJ ended up hitting a very nice springboard forearm through a table on Roman. Then the overbooking reared it's bullshit head when Roman was counted out. Shane came out and stated the match would restart, this time with no countouts. The match went on and not awfully until AJ missed a big 450 splash and Roman nailed AJ below the belt and the ref rang the bell. Yet again the crowd was confused and annoyed, expounded when Stephanie's music blared. Then we get a restart with No Dqs. Had after this point the match had been shorter it would have been ok but what we got was a Gallows and Anderson run in. Roman ate their finish and survived a pin with his foot on the rope very bullshit like.

In the end, AJ went for his “Phenomenal Forearm” and Reigns ducked and hit the feared Spear to retain his title. It isn't a coincidence though that post match, Roman was on his ass looking very exhausted and beaten. While I feel like the booking of this thing was way overdone, I do think that WWE has something with these two going at it. Reigns looked very good and AJ remains a hot item with all the bullshit that surrounded the finish. Extreme Rules will be fascinating, seeing if they'll stay the course with Roman or further the AJ experiment to greater heights.