Payback (2020)

The WWE held its 33rd annual SummerSlam (2020) on August 23, 2020 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

It was quickly followed up a week later by Payback (2020) on August 30th, 2020 from the same venue. Don’t ask me why they had two events back to back. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me but I have to say as I sat there watching Payback the other night I was pleasantly surprised to be watching the second PPV in two weeks. That said, even after two better than average shows, I’m ready for a break.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a screeching halt back in March, WWE has been doing most of its shows from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with no fans in attendance. The first PPV where this was the case was the two night WrestleMania as chronicled on the podcast (WrestleMania 36 Night 1 Review and WrestleMania 36 Night 2 Review).

It was recently announced that all future shows would be held at the Amway Center, complete with a new feature… ThunderDome. This is basically a bunch of pyro and LED screens around the ring where fans would typically be giving the illusion of a packed house. Candidly I thought it sounded like a stupid idea but it adds quite a bit of ‘realism’ to watching the product – I’m a fan.

With that… let’s get into it.

The Riott Squad Defeated The IIconics
Bobby Lashley Defeated Apollo Crews To Win the WWE United States Championship
Big E Defeated Sheamus
Matt Riddle Defeated King Corbin
Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax Defeated Bayley and Sasha Banks To Win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
Keith Lee Defeated Randy Orton
Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio Defeated Seth Rollins and Murphy
Roman Reigns Defeated “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman To Win the the WWE Universal Championship – No Holds Barred

Payback Thoughts

Not as much here to like as SummerSlam had but still a fun show with a couple of really high points for me. I do have to say that this just sort of felt like a RAW or Smackdown with so few title matches, but I guess that makes sense when you have back to back PPVs. I loved the win from Baszler and Jax, especially the finish.

For YEARS the WWE Universe has been waiting for a fully heel Roman Reigns and damn is it fun to see it finally play out. As I said previously, I’m a fan so to see him, even as a bad guy, come back and be thrust into the main event is awesome. Seeing him win back the strap that he never lost? Icing on the cake.

Buy Payback (2020)

Upcoming WWE PPV Schedule

I think it’s fair to say with everything going on in the world today that these are tentative… but here’s the upcoming schedule for the rest of the year.