Official 2023 Payback Preview & Predictions

This is w w E Superstar Drew McIntyre and you're listening to the w w
E Podcast, the show, the one that everybody wants me God Step three
sixteen says, I just quist your ass is my art. You're gonna acknowledge
me. All everybody, welcome to the w w Podcast. It's time to
talk Payback, which is going to be taking place tomorrow night, and uh,
lots of talk about you know, when you look at this card,
it's not one that overly strikes you as the heavy on the star power side,
but it's one that makes you look at it and go, this could
overachieve. There could be some surprises. Payback has historically not exactly been a
landmark event either. You know, I can't recall anything monumental happening at a
Payback pl e, but we certainly could have some surprises. And you know,
I know that SmackDown took place tonight. I did see something that occurred
on SmackDown. So if you don't want to hear anything spoiler alert, you've
been warned. So let me just start with John Cena, who's going to
be hosting Payback. That's what I'm gathering. No, I didn't see SmackDown.
I just saw that part of it on social media, so you'd imagine
that's going to be some kind of interaction with Seth and maybe his opponents of
Imperium that are coming up on the Superstar Spectacle in India on September eighth to
build to that match. I can't imagine anything else happening until September eighth,
because don't forget, John Cena is on every SmackDown from here till September or
I'm sorry, October twenty seven, so he is here for quite a long
time, likely the longest streak in the last five plus years for John Cena
consistently appearing on ww television. Now it is interesting to know what it is
SmackDown, so you know, all the draft rules go out the window when
it comes to having the other three guys that are in this match that are
from Raw up here on SmackDown. You know, just because I also did
see a picture and I'm really hoping it's not true of John Cena and Cody
Rhodes holding up each other's arms or something, and if Cody Rhodes was on
SmackDown, I mean, let me just save that for another time. But
I have a feeling that you know that that is a legitimate picture of John
Cena and Cody Rhodes holding each other's arms up and as if giving the stamp
of approval. Again, it's just all right, yeah, I'm by the
way, I'm officially off the Cody Roads bandwagon when it comes to his baby
face character. I'm done, done, alrighty, moving on. Let's start
with the matchups here and then we'll get to any potential returns or surprises.
Let's start with the Tag Team Championship Steel City Street Fight, and that gives
us of Kevin Owns and Sammy Zane versus the Judgment Days, Damian Priests and
Finn Balor. Now you know what you're gonna get here. We've seen it
many many times before. These these two, these four men have been fighting,
but it seems like multiple months, and you know you're gonna get a
high quality match, probably going sixteen seventeen minutes, and it's gonna end with
some form of miscommunication between Damian and Finn Or. It could also end with
j D mc dona inadvertently costing them the matchup or purposefully causing them the matchup,
and that leads to more tension between Finn and Damian because JD is Finn's
friend, and therefore, what does shin or what does Finn do? Not
shin, We'll get to him, but what does he do? So it's
either miscommunication which causes further tension or Jane d mcdonnah purposefully or accidentally quote unquote
costing them the matchup, and the Kevin Owens and Sammy's Ain tag team title
run continues. Now even if that wasn't the case, you know, even
if even if Kevin and sam were going against some kind of legendary team right
like, I don't care if it's the Road Warriors back in the early nineties,
late eighties, I don't care because right now they have a championship match
booked for September eighth in India. With the end of Sheer, you talk
about completely foreshadowing or giving away the ending of this matchup terms of who's retaining
and who's not. That all but solidifies it. So, yeah, there's
just no chance, zero, that Kevin and Sammy lose this match. None,
or I should say they could still lose the match, but the titles
aren't changing hands Alrighty, the United States Championship, Raymstereo versus Austin Theory.
You know, this one seems like a slam dunk that Raymisterio is going to
retain, but there's a small hint that Austin theory could okay. The reason
is if you're on the bandwagon of Austin theory winning back the United States Championship,
here are twofold one. Maybe Santos Escobar gets involved here and it's it
looks like he maybe he turns heal and he costs Raymsterio the matchup, giving
the belt back to Austin theory or the other idea here, or theories that
support no pun intended Austin theory winning back the belt is La Night And why
do I say that? I know he hasn't match in the card. We'll
get there. But the reason is that Austin theory is a heel. Duh,
right, La Night cannot take the belt from Raymisterio. If you want
his first major title victory to be against a baby face, I think it's
a mistake. You want it to be against a heel. Take the US
title off a heel. It would not have the same impact if it was
off of a baby face, and especially a beloved one like Ray Mysterio.
Now you could still have Ray retain and then Austin Theory and inject himself in
there, and that's actually more of that's the easier solution because you don't put
the belt back on Theory, which nobody wants, even if it's to put
it on La Night. I think right now, Austin Theory is just so
cold you don't want it on Theory. It was so nice when he got
his career has actually been helped by the title being lifted off of him.
So I think Raymsterio retains. But you know, this one, this one's
a scary one because they could go that road of Austin versus Austin versus La
Night one on one. But I believe in my mind that it's going to
be probably a fatal four way or a triple threat at fast Lane for the
US title. Ray will still be champion, I think, so. I
think he'll retain here, but it's it's probably gonna be La Night versus Austin
Theory versus Raymisterio versus Santos Escobar in a fatal four way for the US title.
Next to the next PLI that's my guest, with La Knight likely picking
up the title victory there, and he can do it by pinning a heel
without directly pinning the baby face. It's kind of a creative way to get
Raymisterio another four weeks of a run, have a nice quick run with the
belt, and also not have La Night pin a baby face to win it
off of him. So I think that's probably how it's going to go.
Other than that match quality here, I mean, as as with a lot
of these matches at Payback, this one doesn't. You know, this one
doesn't particularly stand out to me that it's going to be a blockbuster. I
just I mean it's not. Raybsterio can still go Austin Theory, is more
than capable and obviously has the physical tools to have a great match, But
I don't expect this one to stand out from an emotional standpoint where the fans
are with every maneuver. I expected just a solid match, two and a
half stars out of five if you're on that scale, or five out of
ten, or maybe a three out of five star or something like that.
Nothing crazy, but solid, and it ends with Raybsterio retaining and maybe it's
uh Santo's helping him. Maybe right. Alrighty, let's get to steel cage
match here, Becky Lynch for Stress Stratus, the match that all of us
can say hallelujah. You know this program is ending, it has to write.
I think that's sad. They actually marketed it, so they can't go
back on it, can they. This match is being built as well,
it's the it's the finale. No one can interfere, which is hilarious with
every steel cage match being sold that way, because every single steel cage match
in fact, almost attracts more outside interference because you know, the referee just
opens doors. Nothing's locked, there's there's no roof. They want us to
believe there's some kind of mystical force that will keep people out. But this
program, you know, I'm trying to enjoy it. I'm making an effort,
which is always a bad sign. When you're trying to enjoy something that
you have to consciously try, never a good thing, right, But this
match I expect to be very physical. I think this match honestly will overachieve
your expectations. Now that's all proportional or relative, I should say, because
if your standards for this match are in the ground. Then if they even
have an average match, it's gonna blow you away. Right. But if
you think they're gonna have an average match, and they have an average match,
then you're gonna say, what are you talking about? It's exactly what
I thought it was going to be. So I guess depends on where your
expectations stand as to when I say it's going to exceed expectations. But I
think what most people believe, it's going to be a good just a standard
wrestling match. Obviously, they're going to use the steel cage, take some
big bumps, but I think the drama will be there more than we think.
That's where are I am. I'm putting my money is that they'll exceed
from a physical standpoint, and they'll also exceed from an emotional investment standpoint.
That's what I think. I think that is what's going to be a surprise
here where both women are giving it their absolute all and they should because they
know, hey, this is even though the fans weren't really into this,
maybe in the final chapter and the final page of the chapter, we can
hook them and go, you know what, that wasn't such a bad program.
So I don't think they're going to phone it in, and I think
it's going to be It's one of those matches we're gonna come back and go,
huh, yeah. That was much better than I thought. You know,
it didn't blow me away, but better than I thought given the expectations
and the build. So next Ellen Knight miss This one is not going to
blow us away from any I don't think it's going to be Match of the
Night or anything, but this one I think is all about continuing the momentum
for La Night. The most overused word in all of We's announcing history,
the word momentum will apply actually correctly in this case because La Night has a
lot of momentum behind him. I see LNA winning if he doesn't. You
know, I gotta say, I don't need any funky stuff going on.
I don't need anybody interfering to cause La Night to lose, which extends the
program with them is it's possible, And I'm gonna throw that out there.
It's possible because everyone expects La Night to win, and WWE has been outside
of the Battle Royal has been very swervy with La Knight's victories. Every time
you think he's a lock, he'd isn't, so I would I would proceed
with caution on this one. And if they think they can get more mileage
out of La Night versus them is too fast Lane, than they may have
La Night lose here. So what's my official pick? Oh, by the
way, my official pick for Becky Lynch tris stratus is Becky Lynch. So
let me recap. Sammy and Kevin retain Ray Mysterio retains Becky Lynch wins.
I'm gonna go I'm gonna go out on a limb here, gonna say the
Miss wins because I think they feel that there's more value in this program that'll
eventually end with La Knight getting the blowoff victory at fast Lane or Survivor Series
if they want to go that far. I don't think they will. But
that's what my guess is. The Miss will steal a victory here and it'll
continue La Night's momentum without actually having him wine. He doesn't always have to
win to keep the momentum going. I think that's the let's see, that's
the thing I'm forgetting. And I think this is the one where most people
look at this and go out to you know, LNA wins. I would
say Lnight wins, though if it's a one off, if there's no program
with La Knight and the Miss at fast Lane, then sure LNA wins.
But I think they're looking at this going the MS in La Night has more
gas left than the tank. So if that's the case, then La Night
loses and I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go with them Miss in a shocking
victory, of course, not clean. The Miss is gonna lose win by
some kind of interference and it could lead to Ellenett's next opponent too. But
all right, so Miss wins. Alrighty, let's go to the Women's World
Championship match of Ria Ripley versus Raquel Rodriguez. Now, this this matchup,
you know, with this program, I have to say before we get the
actual matchup here, the program itself has been a long time coming. This
is the matchup we thought we're going to get a Summer slim and we didn't.
The narrative here that's going to sell you if you're interested in this is
size and power. You know that that's that's what the selling point is of
this, because there's not really a deep story other than Rea injuring Ripley or
I'm sorry Rea injuring Raquel injuring her knee and having Raquel try to sell it
for a while, and then Raquel this past week telling Ripley to stop using
her size and strength to her advantage. What that's like saying to ray Masterio,
you know, well, when you stop using your speed and your agility,
you know, that's when you become a real man. Like what are
you talking about? Who is not using what they're good at to win matches
and be dominant? Like very weird Now went over this on the Monday Night
Rob Review with Thomas Franco. You guys should check it out. Very weird
promo, and it honestly is very hard for Raquel to stay baby face.
They are clinging to the baby face character with Raquel, and I'm very interested
also from a crowd perspective, how people react to this match, because it's
yes, Ria Ripley has met her match from a physical standpoint, Yes,
in some respects, Raquel maybe stronger, right, but rias moreover, and
all Raquel has going for her is that she's physically imposing. That's it,
and she's she's she's a good look a woman, of course, but that's
like not even on my top ten list of things that I'm concerned about for
her. But her baby face character is clinging to It's on life support,
not her career, her baby face character. She has a lot left in
the tank. I think Raquel is going to be a massive player when she
becomes a heel. And it's just it's going to be very fun to hear
the crowd and maybe they go along and they could just continue with the mild
support for Raquel. It's it's not booing her, but it's kind of like
me, all right, we'll cheer you. It's kind of that resistant,
forced cheer that you know, you can't really hate her, but you're not
buying into this baby face stuff. It doesn't fit her at all. So
I think that's what the reaction is going to be. I don't think it's
gonna be out right booing Raquel. But that's the only thing selling this thing,
guys, is the physical part. That's it, because you're like,
wow, Ria can't just toss this woman around. So the end of the
of course, re Ripley retains end of story case closed, slammed the book
shut, throw away the key, right, lock it up, because sure
Riquel is has you know, is as strong or maybe stronger than Rea,
So what you know? Okay, so Rea's not gonna be able to dominate
her by tossing her her around, But so what Ria is mega over?
She's not anywhere near her run being over. I could see Riquel, or
rather Rea Ripley going through WrestleMania forty and retaining at WrestleMania forty. So honestly,
this is a slam dunk. This to me is the most slam dunk
match on the whole on the whole card, up and down the card.
So this one's interesting to me from a fan perspective. And if there are
any moments that make me go wow, maybe, but this is all about
Ria Ripley and it should be Rick Cal has no chance of winning this.
The crowd would if I'll tell you if if we Ridley won or lost,
I think the crowd would boo. But what I would like to come from
this is a string of actual opponents, like this is her first real opponent
since WrestleMania. Okay, for real, not only but real. No disrespect
to Natalia or to Zelena, but you look at that. You looked at
them immediately go, yeah, this is this is a nothing burger. You
know. If they have a good match, that's all you can expect from
it. There's no chance that they win. Raquel, you know, is
the first real challenger in the sense that it's a different dynamic with the strength
and power. But you're still looking at this going no chance, right,
So it's the closest to a real opponent that she's had. Now, after
this, they could go right to Becky Lynch. They could, I hope,
you know, maybe they're gonna wait, but I think that eventually Bianca
Bellair and re Ripley are gonna tie it up. You know, Bianca bell
Air and re Ripley were teased the Monday nett Row after WrestleMania, and it's
really kind of fascinating that haven't got to that match yet. So Becky Lynch
could be the next opponent after Becky Lynch because she's gonna need someone to work
with after Trish, So don't forget that. And if we're Rea Ripley beats
Riquel, I don't know if we're gonna want to see where cal part two.
That means that both of them finish up their programs and we get to
Becky Lynch interrupting re Ripley tomorrow night on RAW, or rather not tomorrow night,
this coming Monday night on RAW. So all right, let's continue on
here with the grill. Let's go with the Grayson Waller Effect. Special guest
Cody Rhodes. I don't really care about this, and I say from the
perspective of you know what you're gonna get from Cody. It's a way to
get him on the show, and it's a way to also give the rub.
Thank God, I know what that means. Thanks thanks to Cody this
past Monday, I can actually use that word and feel smart. Thank you,
Cody. I would have been lost. And you're you're expanding my vocabulary
by the week. Cody, thank you so much. If there's anything else
that you want to ingratiate us with, and uh, you know, maybe
bless us with with some vocabulary. We all need to expand our vocabulary.
We really appreciate it. So I really don't care about this because it's about
Cody getting an entrance, getting his stupid catchphrase that's never going to catch on,
and uh, you know, eventually, maybe maybe it'll lead to a
match with Grayson. But is Grayson Waller versus Cody Rhodes really a program they
want to stay with right now? Maybe it is to give you know,
uh, Grayson Waller more rubbed from Big Stars, but he's lost almost every
single match he's been in, so he would inevitably lose to Cody. So
we'll continue that string of losses. So I don't know how much longer you
want to do that with Grayson Waller, but you could sell it by saying,
well, he's lost, but look who he's lost to, right there's
no shame of that. But eventually you have to give the guy some wins.
So we'll see, you know, what we will see. We will
see, but I don't know, perhaps we you know, perhaps we get
a surprise in this somebody else interrupts and it's not just Grayson Waller and Cody
having an actual match or battling it out. I would imagine it's not a
match because Cody Rhodes comes out in like a you know, his business suit,
like he's about to attend a you know, an upper management meeting.
So that's my thought. I mean, I really care less about this segment
because the Cody Rhodes is a massive turnoff from you right now, all right,
last match here, the World Heavyweight Championship Seth Rollins versus Shinskin akham Or,
a match that I didn't think I'd care about out as much as I
do. When I saw Shinsky Turn three weeks ago whatever it was, I
said, oh, okay, this is interesting for shin But you know this
is there's gonna be no promos. It's just you know, one word interviews
and he's just gonna, you know, maybe look meaner. No, they
have done an outstanding job for at least from the expectations of what this build
is or was going to be to what it actually was and what they executed
was just it was just downright impressive, mainly due to the Shinska nakamer video
packages and the subtitles and Shinskate is the way he's delivers those promos and the
content of those promos and the attacks from behind and the watch your back and
then getting personal with his family, I mean, unbelievable. And I hope
this continues for Shinska even if he moves on from Seth after this. I
hope that he continues on with his heel character, and he doesn't just go
back into obscurity in some kind of mid card meaningless program with who was he
feuding with before this? Was it? Oh? It was Tamasel Champa and
Bronson Reid. I hope he doesn't go into that again, right, he
just goes back to that and we forget all this. No, they have
something here, so perhaps perhaps Seth retains here, but they have part two
at fast Lane. I wouldn't hate that. I think that there was a
case to be made for that while they looked at this is maybe a one
off, there is a case to be made given the fan reception to this,
given you know, the overall execution, and if their match at Payback
delivers, maybe they think twice about this being a one off. So we
will see. But this match, I expect this match to be a match
to the night candidate. You're gonna see Shin's get Kamara to the level that
we haven't seen him in a while. Again, if they give them enough
time, If they only give him like eight to ten minutes, I'm concerned.
If they give him fifteen to seventeen minutes, that's kind of where I
think they should live here, And I expect a lot of near falls.
I expect the back to be targeted, as that was part of the story
going in. You're gonna see the back being targeted, the announcers talking about
his family and how Shinsgate wants to end Seth's career and take the burden of
being world champion off of him and all that. It's gonna be a fun
story to tell. And it's it's just interesting. It's not. It is
interesting, but it's simple to understand. There's nothing to really think about here.
But you're gonna see a lot of a lot of back targeting by Shinsgate
Akamura as he should in this matchup, and there's gonna be moments where we
wonder, hey, wait a minute, could he win? And even going
in, they have done a masterful job of making you think, well,
this is a real injury. Maybe Seth wants to get it cleaned up before
WrestleMania season, and I keep saying that week after week, But if the
recovery time isn't significant, meaning like more than six months, perhaps he does
decide to kind of bite the bullet and maybe make it back in time for
WrestleMania season, or maybe he doesn't risk it and realize this. Nope,
the docs said it's going to be eight to twelve months. I don't want
to do that. I want to wait till after wrestle Mania forty, drop
it there and then go off into the sunset until you know, the following
year. I would imagine that again, if he's been dealing with this pain
for this long, and it's a true injury, he's been dealing with for
this long, he has to know that the recovery and he's I mean,
I'm sure he's going to a doctor. The doctors have probably told him what
the recovery time is and all that, and you know that maybe it is
a more risky procedure that couldn't end up with him not wrestling again and all
that. Perhaps that's what the doctors told him, which is why there's got
to be a reason why he's held off on this, especially if it's giving
him that much pain on a daily basis. So this is a hell of
a story. This is a great story, great narrative, wonderful and the
just the different emotions that Sinsky has all of a sudden been able to show
on camera, the change of clothing, the attacks from behind, as I
said, we're just they're brilliant. The things he's whispering, and Seth here,
the watch your back thing. It's all been great. It's been a
plus. Not complicated, easy, but different and exceeds what you expect.
It's just it's it's great. So I expect this again fifteen to seventeen minutes,
some moments where you go, oh my god, this could be it.
Ultimately, Seth rawlins, I think we'll come out on top. So
there's my prediction. I think Seth Rowlins does retain, but I wouldn't,
I really really wouldn't look at this and go, you know, I'm betting
the farm on this. Seth wins. He probably will. Yes, he's
still a heavy favorite. But what www set out to do is put that
seed of doubt, and for so much more than just a seed, but
for the majority of us at least, there is that little seed of doubt
that Shinskate could win. And that's all you can ask for in this program
that came out of nowhere against an opponent that was essentially doing nothing since twenty
eighteen. So this has been a pleasant surprise and I think the match will
deliver and deliver big time. From but just a pure wrestling perspective in drama
and all that stuff during the match. So there you go, seth Roland's
retains. But I'm not I'm not one hundred percent on that. I'd say,
like, you know, ninety percent. That said, what about surprise
returns? You know this will be the one pay per view where I don't
predict returns and Randy Orton comes back. I guess Randy Orton could come back,
you know, if you're asking me, does Randy come back? And
sad? You know, this would be one that I'd say, bray Wide
can come back and all that. You know, I think that if Randy
comes back, maybe he attacks Cody Rhodes on the Grayson Waller effect. How
about that? Randy Orton versus Cody Rhodes is a lot of history there with
their legacy group and all that. There's some history there. But do they
want to immediately turn Randy Orton heel? And I don't know. But also
there's no Roman on this program or on this match, on this match,
this card, There's no Jimmy Uso at least the most best of my knowledge,
So hey, things could change, But I would say Randy Ortons still
doesn't return here. I think maybe if he is coming back, it's at
a bigger time, at a bigger event. Do I expect anybody else to
come back? Biggie? Maybe? Maybe Biggie. He's floating out there,
although he's getting the same from what I understand, the same recommendations from his
doctors as Randy as don't wrestle again and all that. I don't think that's
going to be the case. But that said, do I expect we're big
returns? No, which means w W probably will deliver them because it's a
pay per view you look at and go in to be pay per view,
you know, a c pay per view. Some good matches will be some
good wrestling, but ultimately no big returns. They could surprise us, but
I'm going to say no straightforward wrestling. Some you know, some heel victories
here, especially with the the the what match was the La Night losing?
I think that could be one that is surprises a lot of people, and
Anger's people, but that'll probably be the shocking moment is Lnnight losing. And
That's kind of where I'm going with here. And shins Kanakamura ends up losing
but coming very close and you know what, here's what I'll say too.
If they're continuing Shinzka and Seth even after shinsk loses this match, maybe it's
a situ where I'm thinking back to Triple H and HBK two thousand and two
Summer Slam. Those of even that remember that match offhand know what I'm talking
about. It's when HBK came out of retirement since nineteen ninety eight. Was
he was out of wrestling for four years. Massive back injury that happened at
a casket match with the Undertaker well documented, but the end of that match,
HBK won. But at the end of that match, Triple H took
a sledgehammer to his back, and the story was that, you know,
if HBK wasn't gonna be able to wrestle again the old there as you're out,
but if he can, well you can explain that. The doctors said
he's fine, he'll be cleared this and that after a month, and he
ended up being able to go on, you know until twenty what was a
twenty eleven when he retired after WrestleMania twenty six, so you know he went
on for several more years. But my point is is that this could be
a Shintskinakamura attack on Seth after the match, where maybe Seth and Shintskin look
it's going to shake hands and he gives him a low blow and then hits
him in the back with a chair repeatedly. I don't think he'd go sledgehammer,
you know, but he could do something to make it look like he's
injured Seth and Seth may have to relinquish the belt and they continue their program
through through fast Lane, so that's possible too. So all right, well,
there you have it my official preview and predictions for the payback event that's
coming to you tomorrow night. I did not see smacked Down outside of the
little John Cina hosting Payback thing, which should be fun and it'll be uh,
you know, right into right into the program he's going to be having
on September eighth, and then whoever he's facing after that so fun. It
kind of feels like a throwback a month or so, right for those of
us that you grew up watching the Attitude while the Ruthless Aggression or John Cina
one of the major faces of that era and the most consistent run he's had
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So alrighty guys, thanks so much for listening. Enjoy payback. I
will be doing a review show, probably Sunday if I'm feeling frisky Saturday night,
but we all know how that goes. Sleep usually wins the battle,
so I'm predicting Sunday morning. But you know, hey, maybe maybe you'll
get inspired and have some kind of divine intervention and do it Saturday night.
But all right, everybody, enjoy the show, take care, and I'll
talk to you next time.