I’ve just gotten home from WWE Payback, the first WWE Premium Live Event *slash* Pay-Per-View that I have attended since Extreme Rules in 20… 2017? 2018? I forget which. I just remember it was the show main evented by Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler in an Iron Man Match, and the fans quickly started counting down every minute on the clock even someone back stage hid the clock so they couldn’t do it.

It was… obnoxious. But hey, I was there, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I laughed at it. And Dolph Ziggler was in a main event, so how archaic does THAT feel already? Where is Dolph these days?

Since then, I’ve attended an AEW Full Gear in 2019, but that’s been it. No other big special events for me until tonight. So… how did it go?

Well, I’m not writing this live, as I usually do for these shows, so no time-stamped thoughts as-they-happened unfortunately! I’m just going to run down the matches, give my thoughts, and what my experience in attendance was like. 

First, my seats were decent for what they were. We were in the 200’s, but Row A, and centered right on the ring, so there were no heads in front of us, and we weren’t at an angle. We didn’t have the best view of the entrance way, but we could see everything else really well, especially during the chaotic, roaming street fight match, and that’s where seeing things mattered the most, right?

I did have a small child behind me who kicked my seat RELENTLESSLY all night long, but at some point in my human development I became a much better person than I used to be, so I just leaned forward and let him go to town. He was having a good ol’ time, and I didn’t want to be the jerk scolding him or embarrassing his dad. Also, it’s not like this was an airplane flight. He was watching wrestling. So kick away, Merril. Kick away. 

Oh, and also! My wife, notorious non-lover of pro wrestling, went with me! That took some cajoling, but she came along and really added to my experience with her weird reactions to things.

MATCH 1: Becky Lynch vs Trish Stratus

What would end up as the second best match of the night was the opening Steel Cage match that blew off the Lynch/Stratus feud. My wife got right into form, complaining about Becky’s hairstyle (“Her hair is all weird, mismatched lengths. She should do her extensions better”) and asking why Trish looks so much older than her opponent.

The crowd was super into this throughout! A lot of excitement in the air, and a lot of really big, risky spots from two of the greatest women’s wrestlers ever. This got a well-deserved (to me) “This Is awesome” chant, and even though I really expected Lita to make a return to even the odds when Zoey Stark got involved, I did not feel ripped-off that we did not get it. 

After Zoey clobbered Trish to end the match, Trish got a lot of “You Still Got It” and “Thank You Trish” chants from the crowd as she left the ring. Not sure that those made TV, but I doubt it.

MATCH 2: LA Knight vs The Miz

For the first time ever, I got to see John Cena live! I was surprised when I realized that, but I’m positive I’ve never been to either a PPV or a show he was on.

It’s great fun to sit through Cena goofing around, as well as to get to cheer him on at this stage in his career and let him know what he means to us. I popped last night when I heard he was going to be at Payback.

I was disappointed that, after Cena and Miz had some verbal sparring, LA Knight did not get any speaking time, but he gets a lot of that and NOT a lot of PLE matches. So he came to wrestle. 

The Miz tried stalled a lot to start, causing a “Tiny Balls” chant, which gifted me with this:

Child behind me: What are they saying?

His dad: They are just saying something to get Miz to go in the ring.

Good answer, dad!

I felt a little disappointed in Knight’s entrance where the crowd was loud, but not Huge Pop loud. Still, there was a LOT of “YEAH”-ing during the match, so his overness remains intact. Some big reactions around me to teased Cena/Knight confrontations, but those don’t seem to be going anywhere after tonight. 

It was somewhere around here that my wife discovered one of her favorite things to do would be to watch the little crouched over guys who feed the cables to the cameramen and keep them out from underfoot. She just thought that was amazing.

MATCH 3: Rey Mysterio vs Austin Theory

Ah, the Cinnamon Toast Crunch match. We got at least one “We Want Cereal” chant, and my wife and I marveled at how many place they found to put CTC branding. Do you even have to advertise CTC? It’s unquestionably a Top Five cereal. Who doesn’t like Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

This match happened. I’m not a huge fan of either man, and this match was never going to be  barn burner. I’d rather they had chopped this and borrowed 5 minutes from Knight/Miz and given us Gable/GUNTHER instead, but my thought is they want that match to shine as a focal point of Raw and not get buried in a PLE midcard. Which… fair enough!

MATCH 4: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs Judgment Day

Easily the match of the night; I’d be shocked if anyone disagreed, even as overbooked as it was. These four guys and the Judgment Day minions put on a hell of a show. 

At some point during this one, the child behind me’s kicking got so intense, he jumped, missed the back of my seat, and drop-kicked me in the spine. Come on, kid! I’m almost 43, you could basically pin me off that move at this stage in my life. I am what Nakamura has been purporting Seth Rollins to be!

The crowd booed Finn Balor for stomping on a Terrible Towel, but I cheered heartily because the Steelers are awful and I hate them. The crowd loved Sami and Kevin changing outfits into Penguins gear, and so did I because the Penguins aren’t awful. Well, they are ever since they let Marc-Andre Fleury go to Vegas. Hey, how is protecting Matt Murray in the expansion draft that year working out for you guys?

Everything here was a visual treat. Owens’ strangely intense bleeding. His swanton bomb. The I-Can’t-Believe-That-Wasn’t-The-End false finish that JD McDonough broke up. Phenomenal match. Glad I was a part of it live.

SEGMENT: Grayson Waller Effect W/ Cody Rhodes

My wife HATED the fireworks all night long, as they kept taking her by surprise and making her gasp or shriek. So imagine what she thought of Cody’s entrance!

(She also said that she felt them “reverberating” through our seats, and that scared her. Anxiety is hard, folks)

Cody’s pop was huge. Singing along to his song is fun. Waller got in some shots at Pittsburgh as a city to get some cheap heel heat. And then Cody announced Jey Uso was returning and going to Raw, with slightly new entrance music. May have been the pop of the night. Cheering for Jey was a ton of fun, even if I thought Cody was going to conclude the segment by saying he traded himself to Smackdown to get Jey so he could be on Roman’s show. 

So Raw gets Jey, and Smackdown gets… nothing. I know, I know. The brand split barely exists. But still.

MATCH 5: Rhea Ripley vs Raquel Rodriguez

I felt bad for both ladies because after the tag match and then popping for Cody AND Jey, the crowd had nothing to give here. They also clearly wanted to cheer Rhea, but didn’t care enough to boo or cheer Raquel. So the mood was confused disinterest. 

Moment of the match sees me return to the seat kicker!

Child: I want the black lady to win!

Dad: …You mean the lady WEARING black.

Child: Yes!

Anyway, yeah, the crowd was out of this, except for some girls right next to us who were huge Rhea fans. I tried cheering as best I could to show support, and I’m sure both women left saying “I’m glad that guy in 220 didn’t let us wrestle in silence”. 

MATCH 6: Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Plus: Singing Seth’s entrance music, even as my wife complained about the arena’s overall lack of rhythm.

Plus: Singing Shinsuke’s entrance music, too!

Plus: Shinsuke’s animated pre-match video, which was rad as hell, and really sold me on the story between both men.

Minus: Most of the rest.

The crowd was super into this one, but for me, this is where the length of the show got to 40+ year old me. I was just feeling tired, and this affair didn’t do much to rouse me. They told this story of Shinsuke going after Seth’s back to break him, and then… he kinda did sometimes, maybe? But to me, it just felt like a typical WWE Shinsuke match. It never felt like he was following through on his promise to go after the back and destroy Seth’s spine.

That said, every time he DID target Seth’s back, the girls next to us said “Not his lumbar!”.

Repeated “Let’s Go Rollins” / “Nakamura” dueling chants, which just goes to show that real talent is never truly buried. You give a talented, beloved guy one big story, and the fans will buy right back in. Which is why it’s a shame Shin lost. But I never thought he’d win here. I still say he leaves this feud with the title, but this was the set-up match. He’ll beat Seth in a gimmicked encounter, then he can go on to feud with… Jey Uso?

I’d like to see that!

That was my experience at Payback, and man… am I stiff. I have got to remember this feeling the next time I want to attend a live wrestling show. This seats are comfy enough, sure, but their lack of legroom—even in Row A—is a younger man’s game. 

Either way, thanks for indulging me, and I’ll be back to my timestamped thoughts next show!

OH! I should mention, if you want more wrestling talk, check out the newest episode of Stew World Order, my podcast, where my guest is former NXT and WWE talent TYLER BREEZE! We talk the 1990’s flop Tank Girl amongst discussing his current return to the independent circuit, his UpUpDownDown goings on, and his wrestling school. 

I was super honored to talk to him, and I had a blast, even if the audio quality is worse than usual because I had two record our session different than usual.

Until next time… take care!