Smarky Awards: WWE Payback 2013

WWE put on another amazing PPV in Chicago on Sunday in the form of Payback, and wrestling fans everywhere are still buzzing about what transpired at the inaugural event. While everyone at Payback deserves to be celebrated for their performances, only a select few can have the honor of being “the best”.

Best Match Award

Winner: Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk

In one of the most surprising moments of the night, CM Punk actually returned and actually wrestled Chris Jericho in his home town without any swerves. While this may seem like a bad thing, having CM Punk wrestle another instant classic with Chris Jericho was clearly the right decision, as the two tore the house down in front of the loud Chicago crowd. This match had a more methodical feel to it, with cool spots and great technical wrestling being spread out in the match. CM Punk would end up winning the match, but he had to hot Jericho with three GTS’s before he could. This match definitely warrants a purchase of the Payback DVD.

Best Feud Award

Winner: Daniel Bryan vs. Himself

While Payback was a pretty damn good PPV, there weren’t actually any earth shattering rivalries that were being decided at the event, so I decided to pick a more untraditional feud as the best one, which would be the continuing saga of Daniel Bryan proving that he isn’t the weak link. Ever since Bryan has gone crazy (well, crazier), he has been on a complete rampage. Whether he’s putting on fantastic matches, fantastic promos, or fantastic beards, Daniel Bryan has been the center of attention for the past month, and his own journey to get to the top gets him the best feud award.

Best Diva Award

Winner: AJ Lee

For the first time in about a year or so, the Best Diva Award can actually go to someone who deserves it instead of a random Diva who competed once. Yes, after finally winning the Divas Championship from Kaitlyn in a good ten minute Divas match, AJ has won herself the best Diva Award. Now we get to see the reign of the Black Widow commence.

Biggest Loser Award

Winner?: Wade Barrett

Wade Barrett is World Champion material. For some reason, WWE doesn’t seem to realize. For what seemed like an endless amount of time, Wade finally lost his IC title to Curtis Axel at Payback while simultaneously getting pinned and taking a Figure Four. On the bright side, Wade Barrett will probably be in the same place he was when he was the champion, a glorified jobber. Sigh.

Best Superstar Award

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

I’m torn on this. On one hand, I hate everything and everyone because Dolph Ziggler lost his World Championship after two months. On the other hand, the Del Rio/Ziggler double turn was perfectly done and this could be the start of big things for both men. So, I went ahead and gave our new World Heavyweight Champion and ex-WWE Latino Poster boy Alberto Del Rio the award. Nice to see him being a total jerk again. It’ll also be nice to see Ziggler kick his a**.