PREDICTIONS: WWE Payback

Yeah I don't need to watch this live.

Ah, the first PPV afgter Mania. Traditionally a weird, half-assed affair, this year's Payback is extra special because of the weirdness caused by matches being set before the Superstar Shakeup. I have bad feelings about this.


Pre-Show: Enzo & Cass vs. Anderson & Gallows

Who cares? Neither team's gonna be in the title picture anytime soon, the match has little to no build, and the outcome doesn't matter. I'm gonna flip a coin and say Enzo and Cass win.

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

I'm of two minds here. One mind says never predict Romnan Reigns will lose. The other knows that they want Strowman vs. Lesnar at some point, and beating Reigns would make the path to that clear. So I'm gonna say Strowman wins but the victory will be blamed on Roman's ambulance injuries.

Neville vs. Austin Aries, Cruiserweight Championship

Aries should win this, but with the exception of the newly heel Perkins, the Cruisers don't have any credible heel challengers for Aries as champ. Plus, Aries stood triumphant on both Monday and Tuesday this week, so Neville retains.

The Hardys vs. Cesaro and Sheamus, Raw Tag Championship

The build to this has been super weird. They've been trying to build or tease an odd face-face tension between the two teams, but I'm not sure why. But they might be wanting to pull the trigger on Broken Hardyz sooner rather than later and so I'll go out on a limb and say Cesaro and Sheamus take the belts and break the hardyz.

Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss, Raw Women's Championship

Everyone knows eventually soon it's gonna be Sasha-Bayley. So the question is, will it be for the title or not? I think it will be. Bayley retains.

US Championship: Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho

They've invested too much in the Owens-AJ rivalry to keep AJ a heel and pair him off with Jericho on Smackdown. Owens wins, pussibly retiring Jericho for another nine months or so.

Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe

Rollins' redemtion story demands he beat Joe, but outside of Rollins Joe has nothing to do or care about, so Joe wins through shenanigans and we get six more weeks of this.

Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton, House of Horrors Match

Since this is no longer for the WWE Championship, there's a chance Bray Wyatt will win, and that's all I need to bet against Randy Orton out of pure spite. Wyatt wins.