Wrestling
September 3, 2023 | 1:14am
Judgment Day had a very special night at WWE Payback.
When the dust settled on Saturday night at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, all members of the Gold faction walked out as Finn Balor and Damian Priest overwhelmed Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to become undisputed tag team champions and Rhea Ripley retained her heavyweight championship Raquel Gonzalez kept women against her.
The group feels stronger than ever, although Priest surprisingly didn’t even hint at a Money in the Bank cash-in against the dejected but still victorious Seth Rollins.
Despite all of this, Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus stole the show with their cage match in the opening match and ended their feud.
It was all part of a strong, but not entirely spectacular, performance from the WWE thanks to the small details.
Here are five insights from Payback.
Day to remember
It took a lot of help from NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh and Rhea Ripley, but Finn Balor and Damian Priest defeated Sami Zayn Kevin Owens to become the undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions in a Pittsburgh Street Fight. Balor is now a Grand Slam champion.
When the action first moved into the crowd, Mysterio joined Balor and Priest in attacking the champions. Owens and Zayn, wearing Syndey Crosby and Mario Lemieux’s Penguins jerseys, jumped out of the penalty box with hockey sticks and eventually beat The Judgment Day back into the ring. Zayn delivered a Blue Thunder Bomb to Balor on steel chairs.
Damian Priest and Finn Balor celebrate their victory at Payback.WWE
The mood quickly spread back to the crowd, where Owens, who was paying tribute to Terry Funk with a T-shirt, jumped from the railing in the stands to throw a Swanton Bomb through a table at Mysterio. It isolated Zayn for a moment with Priest and Balor in the ring. Zayn failed a pin attempt after being hit by a trash can and slipped during their attempt at a tag team finisher. But Zayn was stopped from pinning Priest by McDonagh after a Helluva Kick. Then Ripley appeared and ran through a barricade toward a full-power spear from Owens
Zayn would eventually avoid Balor and go for a coup de grace. But Mysterio used the Money in the Bank briefcase to break the pin and Balor’s arm rolled onto Zayn, making it 1-2-3. Apparently the only question that remains is whether McDonagh will finally become an official Judgment Day member.
Classics in a cage
Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus went out and had one of the best steel cage fights we’ve seen in a long time. They put their bodies on the line several times, with Stratus giving Lynch and The Man a top rope bulldog and dragging the Hall of Famer by his hair back over the cage into an insanely high superplex. She finally won with an Avalanche Manhandle Slam.
Becky LynchWWE
The best they did was create drama as each of them tried to escape over the top of the cage several times. Near the end of the game, Lynch tried to climb out of an escape door while Stratus tried to crawl out the door. After Lynch jumped down to go after her, a tug of war ensued with Zoey Stark over Stratus. After a regular manhandle slam, Stark jumped into the ring to break up a pin. Lynch eventually joined her and defeated Stratus to end a feud that dated back to April.
Frustrated by Stark’s inability to contribute to the victory, Stratus struck her charge and demanded that she leave the cage. When she refused, Stark hit Stratus with his finisher and ripped off her “Thank You Trish” shirt. It was perhaps too early for that, as the audience reacted quite indifferently,
A cool callback was Stratus using Widows Peak to honor Victoria in the first WWE women’s cage match with Lita, whose Twist of Fate Lynch used. At one point, Stratus appeared to have a large bump on his forehead.
WWE added another layer to Lynch’s upcoming feud with NXT Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton, which caught up with her backstage. Lynch indicated he would be at Stratton’s title defense against Kiana James on Tuesday.
Back in business
Seth Rollins continues to deliver quality matches with quality stories as the World Heavyweight Champion. His main competition drew heavily from the real-life story of his injured back. Everything Nakamura did was aimed at weakening him from strikes to backbreakers, even leading Rollins to frequently use him to kick while the Great Muta watched at ringside
Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura fight for the world heavyweight title.WWE
Rollins’ title appeared to be in jeopardy late when Nakamura, getting an incredible starting package as she continued to build, put the champion in a triangle choke and had him wiggling his fingers to show the referee she wasn’t out was. When that didn’t work, Nakamura attempted a landslide off the top rope and landed on the Kinshasa knee. Rollins collapsed at ringside before he could throw the second punch.
It gave Rollins the opening he needed, working his way to a Pedigree before executing a stomp for the eventual victory. Nakamura, who is now 0-6 in pay-per-view world title bouts, attacked Rollins as the show ended as it looked like this feud would continue. It would explain why Damian Preist didn’t try to cash in, Michael Cole and Corey Grave did that incredibly well and pointed out the small detail regarding Rollins’ back.
He is the knight
LA Knight’s match against The Miz was nothing special from a ring perspective as the pace was too slow and plodding at times. Still, Knight got what he needed – a win and, at the end, a respectful handshake from special guest referee John Cena.
The only drama here was watching Cena try to force things through in the middle as tensions rose with each man. Knight almost accidentally ran into Cena and hit him, opening the door for Miz to have a Skullcrushing Finale. Knight was able to score a deuce in the only moment it looked like Miz might win.
It will be interesting to see what comes next for Knight as it could be a while before he gets a shot at the US Championship as Rey Mysterio defeated Austin Theory in a good match to retain. After Theory countered the 619, Mysterio responded by rolling up that challenger and attempting to win the A-Town Down. It’s hard to imagine WWE Knight going for the title against a babyface. The theory, on the other hand, seems to be heading towards a potentially interesting tag team with Grayson Waller.
Chemistry lessons
Real-life friends Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez delivered exactly the match you were hoping for, aside from a pretty lame finish that could at least set the stage for a rematch.
Rodriguez won a battle of strength early on, from punches to shoulder tackles, proving the champion couldn’t overpower her. Ripley still remained pretty casual and arrogant and disguised for most of the match, but eventually regained some control.
Finally, Ripley, whose gear was a homage to Chyna, went after Rodriguez’s injured storyline knee with a chopping block and a prism lock. That didn’t stop Rodriguez from slamming the champion into the barricade and the outside ring post. Dominik Mysterio appeared when things got back into the ring and brought an abrupt conclusion. Gonzalez hit a running slam on Mysterio, but Ripley hit a riptide for an ending with very little drama.
Remarks
Cody Rhodes announced on The Grayson Waller Effect that Jey Uso is back and the newest member of Monday Night Raw, although Rhodes hopes he has no regrets. This is the first time Jey and Jimmy will be separated by brand in WWE. It’s unclear if Rhodes will be moving to SmackDown as part of the trade.
Biggest Winner: The Last Day
Biggest loser: Austin theory
Best hit: Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus
Predictions: 4-2
Degree: B+
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