WWE Payback (April 30th, 2017)

[improper]

That PPV was a 7/10 without the Wyatt/Orton match, a 5/10 with it. Yes, that House of Horrors match was bad enough to deduct two points and everyone involved should feel bad.

It was also idiotic to do that match in San Jose with pre-taped footage. It was 6:30 and sunny there when the match started, and yet Orton was arriving at a house in total darkness. I mean, we all know it's pre-taped, but at least try to show a little respect for your viewing audience.

What they should have done was just film it like any WWE no DQ match that ends up backstage. Shoot it in the normal WWE style and have the announcers call the action. Filming it like a movie makes no sense when it's supposed to be happening live. You can't have little snippets of Wyatt crap edited in and multiple camera angles where the cameramen from the previous shot disappear in a live shot. They should have just gimmicked it a bit like the Braun/Reigns ambulance flip where they used creative cuts to do things they couldn't do in a live shoot, but still filmed it like it was actually live. Also, the godawful music added in didn't help, as it was clearly designed to rise and fall with the action, which again makes no sense if this was supposed to be live.

The Hardy compound stuff worked because it wasn't filmed like a live shoot and it didn't take itself too seriously. It took a ridiculous idea and had fun with it. The Orton/Wyatt match didn't have any fun at all. It took itself absurdly seriously, and looked like it was some aspiring backstage guy's attempt at a horror film, only it came off as awful and desperate. It was also idiotic to mention that the match would be returning to the arena, because how could they have known that ahead of time and why would they even stipulate that? They should have just said it was a "falls count anywhere" match that can only be ended by pinfall or submission, and then had them return to the arena as a surprise.

[skbucks1985]

This PPV was so much better than it had any business being. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. Give me Braun/Roman matches forever. Cesaro/Sheamus turning heel was great. Couldn't help but keep thinking about how that beatdown was going to be what finally broke the Hardy Boyz. Hopefully, that's the direction they're going.

The House of Horrors stuff that was pre-taped was so horrible that it was laughable, but not in that entertaining way like the Hardy Compound stuff was. Classic case of WWE taking themselves too seriously.

Whether a WWE PPV is good or not is now at the point where it hinges essentially entirely on the booking. Pretty much everyone who gets consistent TV time is capable of having a really good match. Of the people who wrestled last night, Enzo and Cass are probably the only people who I'm not sure are capable of having good matches either consistently or at least consistently with the right opponent (Strowman).

For me, this was a card full of good matches but I think it gets docked a little in my mind because the matches either didn't quite hit that final gear (Rollins-Joe) or they were matches that were quite good but were rematches that were not as good as the original (Reigns-Strowman, Aries-Neville and to a lesser degree Jericho-Owens).

And that can be overcome, but I think you need that one standout match and this show had that but unfortunately it was in the negative respect.

[WRau1]

Houses of Horrors match should've been like that old WCW 3 tiered cage match. I think it was called Tower of Terror or Dooms Day? Each level could have had different weapons/look creepy. That would have been fun.

[Pharaoh]

They took the House of Horrors name too seriously.

You coulda had the same name but in the 3 level cage as stated above and if WWE didn't wanna build it or bring it out you can simply have it as a street fight where Bray brings the plunder

And the best way to return to the arena and end the match is have them fight through the crowd DURING another match!

Now that'd be unexpected! The match in the ring could stop as they bail OR those people get involved in the Bray/Orton match

Possibilities as a alternative to what they did are endless really but such is WWE

They want to do the safe thing but also wanna do something a little different and in the end you get a muddled result, which ain't surprising

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[improper]

They took the House of Horrors name too seriously.

You coulda had the same name but in the 3 level cage as stated above and if WWE didn't wanna build it or bring it out you can simply have it as a street fight where Bray brings the plunder

And the best way to return to the arena and end the match is have them fight through the crowd DURING another match!

Now that'd be unexpected! The match in the ring could stop as they bail OR those people get involved in the Bray/Orton match

Possibilities as a alternative to what they did are endless really but such is WWE

They want to do the safe thing but also wanna do something a little different and in the end you get a muddled result, which ain't surprising

What they should have done was film it at a house filled with weapons, but film it in a standard WWE backstage fight style, not like a movie as they did. Then, when Wyatt arrived back at the arena, Orton should have popped out of the trunk and attacked him. Then they fight their way back to the ring and wrap things up. The way they filmed it just made it dumb and cheesy, because it was so obviously fake and filmed in advance. I mean, there was damn music set to the events happening, which is impossible in a live shoot!