Review for WWE Payback 2023

Payback this year was an interesting show. It was almost the start of ‘The Return of John Cena’ and me personally, I am all for it. I’m not sure about declaring him ‘The Greatest of All Time’, but maybe there’s a certain Straight Edge Superstar who can return and put him back in his place?

With only six matches I was a little shocked at what was here. However, when I watched I realised that each match was given a significant amount of time for them all to mean something. This doesn’t mean they are all perfect, but certainly none are unwatchable.

In an almost dream match Trish Stratus took on The Man Becky Lynch in a steel cage match that is one of the best examples of these matches in years, A great match and Trish proved without a doubt that she still has it and certainly earned that Hall of Fame ring.

Rey Mysterio against Austin Theory for the US belt was an exciting match and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. This felt almost like a classic Mysterio cruiserweight match and I am glad he has people in the WWE he can still do this with.

LA Knight against The Miz was made special with John Cena as the referee. It is clear that WWE want Knight to be the next big thing and though this wasn’t a perfect performance by any means it still showed just how much the crowd loved him. The same could be said for the Rhea Ripley against Raquel Rodriguez match which certainly had its moments, but I must admit that Ripley is so watchable I could watch any match she’s involved in.

The Streetfight tag team championship match between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn against Damien Priest and Finn Balor of The Judgment Day was possibly match of the night. A fantastic showing from everyone involved and I really enjoyed rewatching this match.

Finally we had the main event with Seth Freakin’ Rollins putting his World Heavyweight Championship up against Shinsuke Nakamura. This is the first time in a long time that I have seen Nakamura in the main event scene and this match proved why he deserved to be there. I loved watching this and the two of them worked really well together with so many moments when either could have gone over.

Payback 2023 was a great PPV to rewatch and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed watching the majority of the matches on the show. This is definitely one that is paying me back with some great moments that I want to watch it again.