WWE Payback begins in a handful of hours, featuring a card stacked with championship stakes. Fans will be able to tune into it on Peacock, which some gamers may still have after it was an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate perk. As a whole, Payback doesn't seem to have as much leading into it as SummerSlam (fitting since SummerSlam is usually seen as a WrestleMania-level event). There, fans saw the conclusion to Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar, saw the Bloodline completely crumple as Jey Uso faced The Tribal Chief and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, and much, much more. Interestingly, many fans may have thought Payback wasn't going to feature any Bloodline drama, but that was before September 1's episode of SmackDown.
John Cena's return heralded many possibilities, but his first promo was cut off by Jimmy Uso (featuring new entrance music). The heat between the two cannot be denied, especially as Jimmy lashed out and compared him to Roman Reigns, perhaps trying to fill a void left by Jey's departure, and it's possible that the WWE Bloodline drama spills into Payback since John Cena is hosting it. It would be interesting to see the veteran get involved, perhaps mentoring and preparing Jimmy in a way that Brock did Cody (though, with a smile). Either way, it's a safe bet that John Cena's role as a host could be more involved than just that.
WWE Payback 2023 Card
Payback's face-off between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus will likely bring this feud to an end. There's a chance Zoey Stark plays some role, but the best ending given Stratus' legendary status is a clean win or loss. However, between the two, Lynch seems more likely to win. Simply put, while Becky Lynch has more than made a name for herself in WWE, a clean win over Trish Stratus in a Steel Cage is a strong accomplishment for anyone.
LA Knight vs. The Miz is perhaps one of the most exciting rivalries, if only because of LA Knight's increasing popularity. His promo battles with The Miz have been god tier, and a strong push for LA Knight. The merch store speaks to his popularity, and it wouldn't be surprising to see LA Knight on the cover of a WWE 2K game one day. Beating The Miz, a genuine workhorse for WWE, starts off a strong push that could see LA Knight appear in more and more PLEs, hopefully one day soon for some championship gold.
- John Cena is hosting WWE Payback 2023*
- Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus in a Steel Cage Match
- Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Austin Theory for the WWE United States Championship
- Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Raquel Rodriguez for the Women's World Championship
- LA Knight vs. The Miz
- Seth "Freakin" Rollins (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the World Heavyweight Championship
- But with a MITB Cash-In
- Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (c) vs. The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest) in a Steel City Street Fight for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
- Cody Rhodes to Appear on the Grayson Waller Effect*
Predictions in bold
Predictions only in text*
Just as John Cena being a host for Payback spells out some easy drama to bring the superstar into the fold, so too does Cody Rhodes basically being in a PLE at all. He may not have a match, but we would be genuinely surprised to see this Grayson Waller Effect promo end without a physical alteration somewhere, somehow, against someone.
Notably, Payback has four championship titles on the line, and if there's ever a time for a title to change hands, it's at a PLE. Shows where there are multiple title defenses, yet all champions retain, just do not make for quality storytelling. That said, it's very unlikely to see Rey Mysterio drop it back to Austin Theory so quickly without some form of deeper storytelling for Theory or something happening between Mysterio and fellow LWO member Santos Escobar. LWO is overdue a WWE Creative push, and keeping gold around Mysterio's waist is the best bet for that. Mysterio seems to be the easy prediction then, while Women's World champion Rhea Ripley also feels the most likely to retain. In their own words, Judgment Day runs Raw and WWE, and a big part of that is the popularity of Mami. While she may lose the title eventually, it would be more fitting for somewhere like WrestleMania 40 than Payback. It's likely Ripley and Rodriquez's feud continues, as there's certainly more that can be done here, however.
Because of this, the gold most likely to change hands is either the Undisputed WWE Tag Tag Team Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship. There's a compelling case for either. On the one hand, Owens and Zayn haven't really had a proper run, it would seem, just constantly being paired up against The Judgment Day. Retaining and giving them a proper story makes sense, but on the other hand, so too does proving the thorn that is The Judgment Day. On the other hand, having Rollins continue to be a proactive champion helps the belt build legitimacy that it's not secondary to Roman Reigns', and while Shinsuke has made a compelling story for his match, WWE Creative has to be really careful about how it handles this.
As a result, the likeliest situation could come down to the MITB briefcase. It could be that Balor and Priest lose to KO and Zayn, just for Rollins to retain the championship against Nakamura too, but Priest cashes MITB in and takes advantage of Rollins' back. This would have multiple effects: for a time, it would further legitimize Judgment Day as a top faction, it would be a strong dramatic swap for the belt to maintain its top-star status, it could build even more friction within the faction as Balor would be the only one without gold (as Dominik Mysterio is the NXT North American Champion), and it would even allow Nakamura to continue his pursuit of the gold, while Rollins eases off. Drama, truly, is at the heart of sports entertainment, so this is our prediction. Chances are, we could be way off, but it'll be interesting to see how Payback unfolds nonetheless.
WWE Payback airs at 8 ET (pre-show begins at 7 ET) on Peacock.