We are less than a week away from this year’s edition of the Payback Pay-per-view. This was the first WWE PPV this year after WrestleMania 32 and the match card looks promising and a couple of matches on the card have the potential to steal the show.
A lot has happened on RAW since WrestleMania and Shane McMahon has given the WWE universe some top quality matches to look forward to. Many debuts have taken place since Mania and the match card was good enough to contain matches featuring the debutants. As part of this slideshow, let us have a look at 5 landmark changes that took place in WWE since Payback 2015-
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Talent injection from NXT
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If you take a look at the match card for Payback 2016, you see a lot of names from NXT. Since WrestleMania 32, we have seen Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Enzo, Cass, Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin making a mark of their own in the company.
WWE usually injects talent on the roster on a gradual basis but this time around, the company has injected half a dozen guys at once and almost all of them are fan favourites. Just observe the crowd reaction when Enzo and Cass made their debut on RAW! All these guys were very promising and this move obviously was best for business.
The Management
Shane McMahon may have lost the match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32 but he has been taking control of the show since the past three weeks and it appears that the WWE universe is happy about that.
Also, there are a few indications that the show could regain its lost glory and once again the ratings could spike up. All of this cannot be said just after a couple of good episodes of RAW. But with the way things have gone so far, there are reasons to believe that the fans would be getting the best out of this weekly show.
The Authority was running things back then during Payback 2015 and now Shane was pretty impressive these days. Stephanie made a statement today on RAW that McMahon would take the final call after Payback but until then let’s see what happens after the PPV.
Daniel Bryan’s retirement
February 8, 2016 was a black day for me. All the hope and energy within me were dead and exhausted. All these days, somewhere deep inside the heart there was a small hope that my all-time favourite wrestler, Daniel Bryan, would get medical clearance and once again walk down that ramp shouting 'Yes... Yes...' and wrestle inside the squared circle.
This was until Sunday, 7th of February, 2016. Today, things are as clear as daylight and the fact that Daniel Bryan has retired from WWE is a bitter pill to swallow for fans like me. Truth sometimes is bitter and you have to take it whether you like it or not and whether you accept it or not.
This is something of a game changer as Bryan was injured a month before Payback 2015. Come 2016, he was not even a part of the roster.
Star Power Dearth
Payback 2015 had Randy Orton, John Cena and Seth Rollins all competing on the same night but now the scenario was different. All the veteran WWE talent is absent today due to injuries and their place was filled by new recruits from NXT.
This may be a good move in the long run but this obviously hurts the ratings as you expect a huge star power for a PPV especially when these guys have impressive records in this event- Cena and Rollins with a 3-0 and Orton with a 0-3.
Degrading the US title
At Payback 2015, Cena took on Rusev in an "I Quit" match and made the challenger tap out. Cena successfully defended his US Championship in a grueling encounter that lasted more than 27 minutes. This was the best match of the night and one of the best US title matches in the history of the company.
Come 2016 and you have Ryback and Kalisto taking on each other in a pre-show for the US title? Things cannot be worse than this. This match had absolutely no storyline heading into the event and it appears that the WWE team were forced to schedule this match just to fill the time slots.
Kalisto was a good wrestler but the creative has totally failed him as a champion by not giving him a proper storyline to work and not pitching good opponents against him. Let’s see if the title regains its lost glory sometime after the PPV.
