WWE Payback preview & predictions: Judgment Day takes the spotlight

WWE Payback takes place tonight at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh and unless something suddenly changes, the show will be void of any Bloodline content — the first pay-per-view/PLE in nearly a year to not feature a match or segment including the stable.

Payback will also not include many of the company’s top stars. Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Logan Paul will not be on the show. Bianca Belair is taking time off, Cody Rhodes will not be wrestling (although he’ll be a guest on The Grayson Waller Effect) and Ronda Rousey appears done with the company for the time being. The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman are not currently advertised either. Many of the top names that have driven WWE’s major storylines last year and this year are simply not featured this weekend. 

Enter John Cena who was announced Friday as the show’s guest host.

The Judgment Day will be looking to fill any holes left by the stars not booked. They are officially part of two of the six matches on the card, but Damian Priest’s Money in the Bank briefcase could easily factor into a third. The stable has shown they can be a draw, especially for NXT, so it’ll be interesting to see how much of Saturday’s show revolves around them.

Which match headlines this show should be interesting as well. A case can certainly be made for Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus being the main event. It’s the blowoff to their feud, in a steel cage, and has two of the company’s most recognizable names. However, the angle has not exactly been on fire of late.

Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. Judgment Day could easily headline the show as well. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura could go on last as well, but the issue there is that few fans believe Nakamura has any chance at all of walking away with the WWE World Heavyweight title…although the aforementioned MITB briefcase looms large.

The show has drawn well. As of this writing, WrestleTix has 12,475 tickets out for the show with the get-in price being $300. It’s a hot ticket in Pittsburgh. 

Regardless of the stars not booked, there are plenty of good matches that should make for an entertaining show. Below are previews, my predictions and betting odds for WWE Payback (8 PM Eastern on Peacock/WWE Network):

Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus in a steel cage match

Lynch is a -1000 favorite.

The idea has always been for Stratus to put over Lynch and I have to imagine this is the blowoff to their story. Lynch should win clean and Stratus will get her comeuppance in the end. 

Lynch’s star power has taken a bit of a hit since her original era as “The Man.” She’s due for a hot storyline to get her back to where she was but unfortunately, this hasn’t been it. I’m not sure when and where this angle lost its luster, but it’s been lacking for a while.

Stratus has put all of herself into this heel gimmick, but it’s hard for fans to hate returning legends. Edge’s heel turn went in a very similar direction. I’m assuming Stratus turns back babyface the next time we see her after Payback, which could be a while from now. She has plenty of projects outside of wrestling that are far easier than taking bumps. This is likely it for her current run, but she could return by WrestleMania.

Prediction: Lynch

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Shinsuke Nakamura

Rollins is a -1000 favorite.

It’s nice to see Nakamura in a top storyline, but he’s not walking away with the title. However, Rollins might not be either due to Priest and the aforementioned briefcase.

Nakamura’s videos in recent weeks, which have been excellent, have focused on Rollins’ injured back — likely to be the eventual downfall of his World title run. Eventually, the physical toll of being a fighting champion will be too much for him and a dastardly heel will pick up an underhanded victory against a vulnerable champion.

AEW has been doing a similar storyline with International Champion Orange Cassidy for the better part of a year now, but I’m expecting WWE to pull the trigger on the champion losing much sooner.

I’m not sure if Priest’s eventual MITB cash-in, which could come this weekend, will be successful or not. Balor could easily mess things up for his stablemate as part of their ongoing story.

Prediction: Rollins retains

WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Raquel Rodriguez

Ripley is a -5000 favorite to win.

The betting world certainly isn’t giving Rodriguez much of a chance here. Ripley, Dominik Mysterio and the rest of Judgment Day are one of the hottest acts in the company right now and, thus, taking the title off Ripley would serve little purpose at the moment.

However, WWE has always booked Rodriguez strong and they will try to find a way for her to get cheated out of winning the title.

This might not be Ripley’s main story of the night either. She’ll be ringside when Finn Balor & Priest challenge Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn as well. Ripley could even appear during a third match if Priest attempts to cash in his briefcase later in the show. 

Prediction: Ripley retains

WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens defend against Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest)

Zayn & Owens are -1000 favorites.

Not that gambling on WWE results is actually something anyone should do, but if you are going to do it, you might consider putting a little money on Judgment Day. Balor and Priest have not been getting along very well lately and it seems pretty clear an eventual split is coming, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s happening tonight.

Dave Meltzer reported earlier this month that the plan is for Priest to leave the group, likely turning babyface in the process. To me, the likeliest scenario is Balor somehow costing Priest his opportunity to cash in the MITB briefcase. If that’s the case, their split isn’t happening here.

JD McDonagh will likely factor into things here as well as we’ll likely find out more about his standing with Judgment Day on the show.  

WWE loves a good storyline of two people who don’t get along having to co-exist as tag champions. I think we could be headed to exactly that. We’ll see.

Prediction: Judgment Day wins the titles

LA Knight vs. The Miz

Knight is a -2500 favorite.

Unless WWE decides they are going to give Knight the Daniel Bryan treatment, it seems very likely he will win this match.

I thought I would hate this feud, but I don’t. Both Miz and Knight can tell a good story in their promos and the angle that Miz thinks Knight is a copy of the Attitude Era and someone with fleeting popularity has been surprisingly entertaining.

Knight should win clean. 

Prediction: Knight

WWE United States Champion Rey Mysterio defends against Austin Theory

Mysterio is listed as a -500 favorite.

This has the closest betting odds of the night which isn’t surprising as this could really go either way. The story they are telling is that Santos Escobar was supposed to get the shot at Theory, but Mysterio replaced him in a title match after he was attacked and injured. That seems to signify there could be a dissension-type storyline going on with the LWO soon. I mean, similar stories have worked for The Bloodline and Judgment Day, so why not do it with a third stable? 

So far, Escobar seems to be coping with having lost his title shot in a mature and sportsmanlike manner, completely unfitting of a professional wrestler. Will that remain the case? They are going somewhere with this angle, but I just don’t know if an Escobar heel turn is the destination. 

Theory regaining his title here seems possible, but so does Mysterio winning clean and then being respectfully challenged by Escobar. I can’t offer a clear prediction for this one because there are multiple avenues the story could take. However, it feels likely Mysterio will retain. 

Prediction: Mysterio retains