WWE Payback Predictions, Part 2

WWE Tag Team Championship: Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins (Champions)

This match has a little more story to it than the Kane/Ambrose match, and that’s Daniel Bryan. Bryan is, as of right now, being built as the top threat to The Shield, and there’s a rumor that he’s going to be moved back into the main event scene this summer. Meanwhile, Orton has been pushing for a heel turn for quite some time, and I could easily see him turning on Bryan in this match to make that happen. Bryan has now made Seth Rollins tap out twice, both in singles and 6-man matches, and handed The Shield their first clean loss in 6-man tag matches this past Friday night on Smackdown. However, I feel that’s more to establish Bryan as a threat in the WWE rather than signify he’ll be part of the tag champs once again. The Shield need to keep the belts a little bit longer, not to mention that Orton doesn’t need to be part of any set of tag champs. The Shield will retain, and there’s a very good chance Orton finally gets his wish and becomes a heel once again.

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho

These two always deliver, and I fully expect Punk/Jericho III to steal the show tonight. Both Punk and Jericho are always trying to outdo themselves, especially when facing guys they are familiar with, and these two definitely know each other, so you should expect something different than their last two matches. As for the result, there has been talk that Heyman will turn on Punk here and build to a Punk/Lesnar feud, while simultaneously possibly giving us a Chris Jericho heel turn. The match could go either way, but based on the things I’ve heard, I’m going with Jericho winning thanks to either a run-in by Brock Lesnar or some kind of disagreement between Punk and Paul Heyman, building to the Punk/Lesnar match at either Money in the Bank or Summerslam.

World Heavyweight Championship-Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler (Champion)

ADR pinned Ziggler in a tag team match on Smackdown, which gives him a bit of momentum in this match. However, this is Ziggler’s first defense as champion, thanks to having taken a couple months off as a result of a concussion. No matter what ADR did the last couple months, Ziggler is not losing in his first title defense. WWE has big plans for Ziggler, and having him drop the title right away would not be the best way to kick those plans off.

3 Stages of Hell Match for the WWE Championship-John Cena (Champion) vs. Ryback

Cena isn’t losing. That’s all there is to it. WWE wants Ryback to be champion at some point, but it won’t be happening at Cena’s expense. Cena will likely win the Lumberjack Match, and Ryback will win the Tables Match to tie the score (and beat Cena without pinning him), while Cena will win the Ambulance Match and retain the title. While Cena is expected to move into a feud with Daniel Bryan at MITB, Ryback really isn’t planned for anything after Payback, so it’s hard to say when he’ll get another championship match.

To read the first part of this article, click here.