WWE PAYBACK

Pittsburgh

BECKY LYNCH vs. TRISH STRATUS "CAGE MATCH" (20:02): This show really only had one match that was any good, and this wasn't it. While this match generally got favorable reviews, I think the only reason was because Trish didn't look as sloppy or botch anything like she did in the MITB ladder match two months ago. This match was set up a long time ago and was supposed to be a big, Summerslam match. Why it ended up as the opener on this B show is beyond me. The big problem I had with this match is that the whole point of a steel cage match is so that there is no outside interference, yet Shayna Baszler was in the ring and beating up Becky during the match. Ugh. Remember when Becky Lynch was the biggest star in the WWE? Why don't they, like, give her something better to do than feud with old, has-been legends? **

LA KNIGHT vs. THE MIZ (15:46): John Cena came out before this match to announce that he would be the special guest referee. There wasn't really a point to that, but I guess they just thought having Cena on the show would make it more PPV caliber. The match was dull, though the sold out Pittsburgh crowd loved LA Knight. I'm still baffled at this, as I somehow missed how he turned from a heel on NXT to a Smackdown crowd favorite. What did he do to earn the crowd's approval, anyway? It's not like he's a good wrestler. He's okay on the mic. I give up. *1/2

REY MYSTERIO vs. AUSTIN THEORY (9:49): I suppose Austin Theory's push is over. Mysterio won the U.S. title from him somewhere and retained it here. Where's Bobby Lashley, anyway? He hasn't been around. And Braun Strowman? I haven't really watched much of Smackdown or RAW lately, though I did notice that Roman Reigns wasn't on this show, hence why this was a forgotten show. That, and it happened on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, when most people watching TV were focused on college football (this game went against Penn State vs. West Virginia, which I watched live instead of this) or down the beach having fun. This was overall a basic, standard match. *

THE JUDGMENT DAY (DAMIAN PRIEST & FINN BALOR) vs. SAMI ZAYN & KEVIN OWENS "STEEL CITY STREET FIGHT" (20:44): This was by far the most entertaining match on the show. The brawled around the arena. At one point, Zayn and Owens were tossed into the hockey penalty box and came out dressed as Pittsburgh Penguin hockey players holding hockey sticks. As stupid as that was, the crowd seemed to like it. Owens was also busted open at that point and a bloody mess. They cleaned him up off camera pretty quickly after that, though. The big spot was Owens doing a moonsault off a guardrail in the crown down onto Dominick Mysterio on a table. No, Dominick wasn't in this match. Rhea Ripley wasn't either, but she still speared Owens through the crowd barrier by the announce table (a spot that the WWE does way too much). The Judgment Day ended up winning the tag titles here. So what are Zayn and Owens going to do now? I'd rather see Owens do singles matches, actually, as he's one of the WWE's better wrestlers in big matches. At this point, considering LA Knight is so popular, it wouldn't shock me to see him beat Roman for the title eventually. Can you believe they'd do that, though, when they wouldn't do it with Sami? I actually kind of hate this company lately. ***

RHEA RIPLEY vs. RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ (17:22): This match was boring. Rhea retained her women's title. The other women's champ, Iyo Skye, wasn't on the show. Has she even defended the title yet since winning it at Summerslam? I wonder. Dominick interfered in this match and got slammed by Raquel. At 17 minutes, this was too long. 1/2*

SETH ROLLINS vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (25:57): The major problem with caring about Seth Rollin's new WWE championship is the fact that Roman Reigns has had his title for 3 years and has beaten everybody. So Seth's title feels secondary and weak in comparison. And did anyone really think Nakamura was winning the title here? No. I haven't seen Nakamura wrestle in awhile in a singles match. I guess they're pushing him these days. He used to be in that comedy tag team with Rick Boogs, who disappeared. Is Boogs hurt? Was he fired? I don't know. Bray Wyatt died. Did I mention that? & Terry Funk as well, in the same week. Wyatt apparently got Covid and got really sick from it and was then getting better and possibly going to return when he had a heart attack and died. I wonder if it was from steroid or drug use...or if it was health issues as he was always a big guy. They did do a tribute type show for Funk and Wyatt on Smackdown the week before this show. The one thing I was thinking about during this match was how great New Japan was when Nakamura was there...and how it's sad now that those great wrestlers are slowly fading away in terms of in-ring prowress, ability, and excitement. Tanahashi is a shell of his former self, pathetically hobbling around the ring. Okada is still fairly good, though slower. & Nakamura has never been as great in the WWE. His only good match in the WWE was his first one, the NXT match against Zayn in Dallas. It's sad watching Nakamura in a boring match. Remember his AJ Styles match? His awesome G1 semi-final vs. Okada? I remember seeing him at the ECW Arena for a ROH show. He was signing autographs before the show and I remember how big a star he was back then. I guess it's cool he's still main eventing things. Too bad the match and this show weren't very good. *1/2