This week’s Raw took place in the dump of a city known as Cleveland, Ohio. The card featured a total of six matches, including two contests to finalize the field for the Money in the Bank championship ladder match.
Most notably, this week’s Raw saw Roman Reigns and John Cena punch their tickets for Money in the Bank, while Vickie Guerrero and Stephanie McMahon bonded with one another. As always, a few questions were answered, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following this week’s edition of Raw.
5. Will Seth Rollins get a new theme song/attire soon?
Seth Rollins furthered his feud with former partner Dean Ambrose last night, and it seems apparent that the two will square off at Money in the Bank. Since joining the Authority, Rollins seems to have lost a bit of momentum.
Most importantly, it feels like Rollins needs new attire, as he is currently still sporting his Shield gear. His new theme music also does not fit him well, but there are rumors that it could change in the near future. Ultimately, the situation shows how haphazardly his heel change was handled, as there was not even a plan in place for new ring gear or decent entrance music.
There are rumors that Vince McMahon is not too keen on Adam Rose. He seemed to be over last night, with the crowd loudly singing along to his theme song for the first time that I can recall.
Rose defeated Fandango in a mixed-gender tag team contest. There was a bit of irony during the match, with Rose essentially being the same character that Fandango was a year ago. We all know what has happened to Fandango during the past year. Where will Rose be a year from now, and most importantly, will he still be with the company?
The following are highlights of a new Chad Dukes Wrestling Show interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley:
On Luke Harper: “I wasn’t sold on him. I wasn’t sold on the idea that they kept comparing him to Bruiser Brody, because Brody for the longtime wrestling fan was one of the great wrestlers of his era or of all time. But he was known as the intelligent monster and Harper was an out of control maniac. I think once you stop trying to imitate somebody and find your own way things really start clicking. So, I’ve been watching him and things have really been clicking and after the Wyatts have this amazing run, hopefully as long as possible, yeah, I do think he has what it takes to become a singles star.”
On The Shield breakup: “I thought it was pretty cool, yeah! I didn’t see it coming and they had a long, a nice long run. Sometimes, and I’m not picking on other groups, but when I wrestled elsewhere for a couple of years it was almost as if they thought every person watching the show watched every episode and kept up on everything, and they would break up groups, literally within months, two or three months. ‘Yeah, they’ve been together long enough, time to break ’em up!’ These guys [the Shield] had been together for two years, the time was right; I think it gives Seth Rollins a chance to break out. He was almost like the forgotten member, even though he would steal shows. He wasn’t the crazy guy, like Ambrose, and he wasn’t the guy with the incredible physique, like Roman Reigns. So he tended to be forgotten. Evolution by the nature of its name should be constantly evolving, I think it was a good move, and I think he upped his stock.”
For those who didn’t like Seth Rollins’ new theme music from this past Monday night’s edition of WWE RAW — fear not — as it was just a placeholder for the time being, and the company is going to be giving him a new, permanent official theme song in the near future.
Additionally, it’s being said that WWE is being careful not to promote that Rollins has “joined Evolution,” as officially, he has not.
Many have asked what ring gear Seth Rollins will wear now that he is no longer a part of The Shield faction, meaning him wearing the Shield-like vest is not an option. Apparently the discussion of what Rollins’ ring-gear will be has been a big topic of discussion among WWE officials since the decision was made to turn him heel and separate him from the group.
Additionally, it’s being said that Rollins is not going to be a member of the Evolution faction, as it appears that the Evolution faction — with Batista out of the picture — may no longer be around.
For those wondering, it also appears that there are no plans to replace Rollins and add a third member to The Shield group, despite much speculation and a WWE.com article that hyped potential replacements.
New information is coming in regarding WWE’s decision for Seth Rollins to betray The Shield last week on RAW and align himself with Triple H. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Rollins’ heel turn was a ‘last minute’ decision.
There were some hints dropped in recent weeks that Dean Ambrose could be the one to break away from The Shield, however, there were never any serious plans in place for Ambrose to join The Authority.
– The dark match before Tuesday night’s WWE TV tapings saw Natalya defeat Rosa Mendes.
– The dark match in between Main Event and the SmackDown tapings saw Los Matadores defeat Ryback and Curtis Axel after El Torito distracted Ryback.
– After the SmackDown tapings concluded, Bray Wyatt called Seth Rollins to the ring. It looked like they were going to start fighting, but instead they attacked Dean Ambrose, who was still in the ring following the Wyatt vs. Ambrose SmackDown main event.
Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Luke Harper and The Usos then hit the ring and a huge brawl broke out. Reigns and Ambrose both grabbed steel chairs and went after Seth Rollins as the ring cleared out. The night ended with Reigns and Ambrose playing to the crowd.
– Several of the biggest names in pro wrestling history were in attendance at this past weekend’s Legends Of The Ring convention from Monroe, New Jersey. Trish Stratus, Lita, Mick Foley, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Booker T, Joey Styles, Colt Cabana, New Jack and more were all on hand to meet fans and tell stories from their careers.
Photographer George Tahinos got a ton of photos, including a hilarious one of Mick Foley trying his hardest not to stare at Sunny’s cleavage, which you can view by clicking the thumbnail below:
– Monday night’s RAW from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota was not sold out. An estimated 8,000-9,000 fans attended.
WWE RAW returns to the Target Center on Monday, December 22nd. The pre-sale password is WWEPRE.
– Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins and Randy Orton vs. John Cena, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose is advertised as the dark main event for next week’s RAW and SmackDown tapings.
– Former ECW & WWE announcer Joey Styles says he’d like to call NXT television:
“@Ryzilla85 7@JoeyStyles would u ever get behind the desk again if @WWE asked” Yes for @WWENXT. It reminds me of ECW & tapes monthly in FL.
– Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler was announced as the featured match for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event on Monday’s RAW. Main Event airs live on the WWE Network on Tuesday night.
– Here is a video of the segment from Monday’s RAW where Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose address the actions of Seth Rollins from last Monday night.
WWE is advertising the following on their official website for tonight’s RAW:
“Following Seth Rollins’ betrayal of his Shield cohorts, how will Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns address the actions of their former “brother” tonight on Raw? Also, what “blockbuster announcement” does The Authority have planned to kick off the show? For exclusive analysis, don’t miss Raw Pre-Show at 7:30 p.m. ET on WWE Network.”
As noted earlier in an exclusive SEScoops.com report, Daniel Bryan will not be able to wrestle at the upcoming Money In The Bank PPV, thus he will likely be stripped tonight on RAW.
WWE.com has a new article up looking at potential new members of The Shield, now that Seth Rollins has left the faction. The article looks at NXT Champion Adrian Neville, Big E., Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, John Morrison and Daniel Bryan as possible replacements for Rollins.
Following the success of the article, the website added a poll where fans could vote on the six aforementioned names. At last check, the results for the poll saw 43 percent voting for Bryan, 17 percent voting for Morrison and 7 percent voted for “none.”
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan is also getting in on the action, hinting that The Shield might need a dose of Hulkamania, brother:
The Shield just might need Hollywoods services brother WWE4Life. HH
– Seth Rollins tagged with his new Evolution partner Randy Orton against Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose at Saturday night’s WWE live event from Las Cruces, New Mexico. Reigns and Ambrose won by disqualification and as you can image, Rollins got nuclear heat from the crowd.
– WWE.com acknowledged Tamina Snuka’s recent knee surgery to repair her ACL and meniscus. Typical recovery time for that procedure is 3-6 months.
– The “Summer TV Preview” issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine listed the WWE Network as #10 of their “Must List.” The article stated:
“The expanding archive features almost every show the company has ever run. Finally, Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 3 in 1987 and Chyna’s title victory at No Mercy 1999 are never more than a few clicks away.”
Two big matches are being considered for the upcoming WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Aside from the tentative Daniel Bryan vs. Kane match and the Money in the Bank ladder match, WWE is also planning Seth Rollins to face his former partner Dean Ambrose and Randy Orton to compete against Roman Reigns.
The idea is that Reigns vs. Rollins would take place at Battleground in July, leading into the rumored Reigns vs. Triple H match at SummerSlam.
WWE Money In The Bank takes place on Sunday, June 29, 2014. As always, we’ll have live coverage the night of the show.
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey posted a video on Instagram of her reaction to Seth Rollins turning on The Shield and joining Evolution on Monday’s RAW. Rousey, a huge WWE fan, leads a fight team dubbed the Four Horsewomen that are rumored to be appearing at SummerSlam.
The following are highlights of a new Busted Open Radio interview with Tommy Dreamer:
With the Seth Rollins turn, is it hard to shock fans these days? “Oh yeah. I mean, that was my job back in the original ECW with the rise of the Internet. The Internet has so…. hurt as well as helped professional wrestling. When you talk to a lot of people, especially with me and I’m always known for having surprises at shows and people are like ‘You got any surprises?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah.’ and they’re like ‘No no no I don’t want to know’. Which is cool. I mean, it’s sometimes better to just sit back and be a fan because then we get so cynical and we want to think things our own way and stuff like that. I think the turn, and this is my opinion, the turn was really really cool. I don’t think it was the right time and the Shield I think still had a lot more mileage to go. And if you also think about it isn’t this kind of like the second Shield turn that they’ve already had? A lot of people sadly in wrestling nowadays forget about stuff. I don’t, and I remember even when everybody was making the big stink about Daniel Bryan never getting the chance, never getting the opportunity. He was already champion twice before. That’s how they, in wrestling, make you want to forget certain things. It’s your memory by what we want to feed you. Me, I remember specifically when Barry Windham turned on Dusty Rhodes. It was like ‘What the hell?!’ or Larry Zbysko turned on Bruno Sammartino. It was like ‘No way did that just happen!?’ Again, I think it’s…. in the long run will be good for Seth Rollins. I’m a huge fan of Seth Rollins work. Again, I think it’s just a little too soon because you think about it the night before they just beat the biggest faction in the business. I also would have probably almost waited to WrestleMania to have them face the Wyatts. They basically did a throwaway match on a throwaway pay per view. I mean, there was big money in 6-man action with the Freebirds and Von Erichs. They (Shield & Wyatts) are some over acts and if you finally make those guys touch, I think you’re on to something. Again, that’s they’re idea, they’re booking. Not mine.”
Is that even possible in this day and age to have a feud go on for more than just 3-4 months because of the over saturation of programming? “I don’t even want to say over saturation of programming. I want to say, it’s more for, I think in their eyes, desperation for ratings and the whole ‘We got to do things NOW NOW NOW’ as apposed to ‘wait and cultivate’. I mean you’re talking to a guy who couldn’t beat a guy for 3 years and even when everybody knew he (Raven) was leaving for WCW, they were still going crazy for all of the false finishes and everything that they did. They knew the guy was leaving. Why would they ever want to believe that he could beat me? They still were doing it throughout the entire match. I was at Lisa Marie’s restaurant. It was probably the first time I watched that match in forever and I’m saying to myself ‘Here during this age of the professional wrestling fan, and they’re still biting on all of the false finishes, and they knew he was leaving.’ So it says something for our hard work. They know, but they don’t 100% know and I think that’s the beauty of professional wrestling. To answer your question, yes, it is a lot harder to try to smarten up the fans or keep surprises because of how the industry, and, well it’s social media. If you think about it, social media changed the main event of WrestleMania and changed the outcome of WrestleMania so it’s an amazing time to be a wrestling fan.”
His take about House Of Hardcore: “I’m a wrestling fan. Always have been, always will be. This is my vision of what professional wrestling is and should be. I just want the fans to go home and say ‘Wow I saw an amazing night of professional wrestling.’ That’s my job to give it to them. Yes at times I say, like today when I spent over probably 1,200 dollars on hotels for all the talent, I said, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ But at the end of the day it’s paid off for me so far and I’m hoping it continues to pay off for me. I came from an amazing place, ECW. It was a great atmosphere and time to be a wrestling fan. I feel independent wrestling is on the rise, and if you give them I don’t care what form of entertainment it is, if you give them quality entertainment, people will come, and so far that’s what I’ve been doing. The obvious choice of Poughkeepsie and Philly, it was a big burden for me. I’m plotting out guy’s rides and how they’re going to get from one place to another, hotels. It’s a lot of work and I’m hoping at the end it’s going to pay off for me. So far I’ve had no complaints for the shows, so that’s really why I do it. I’m not going to be a guy that risks his family’s livelihood or my family’s future because I want to run wrestling shows. It’s also a business. I’m trying to slowly build something. This is going to be my 4th, 5th and next week in the west coast is going to be my 6th shows. I didn’t want to do that many shows but they kind of fell into place. From my 3rd show I had Bully Ray jump me and that aired on TNAs web stream. We had a national wrestling company talking about my company and I helped draw a bigger house for them and, you know, when we did the return match for TNA and, you know, now I can’t say who’s going to be there, but there’s going to be national cameras rolling in Poughkeepsie. There’s some good stuff going on. I’m happy because I’m seeing my hard work pay off. In ECW it changed us and we came so close. I think that’s what kind of what motivated me just cause, you know, I want more options. I want there to be more wrestling promotions. I want wrestling fans to have a choice to choose what they want to see. I don’t want to watch just… I want to see everything. It’s what I grew up on and that’s what I want to continue to do.”
Do fans just want to see pure wrestling, no matter what promotion? “Yes, and, you know it’s funny, there are guys who are past their prime wrestling, but it doesn’t mean they can’t contribute in the ring. Me, I know my time is limited. I’m 43 years old. I still can go out and put on a very entertaining match. Even though with the entire amount of injuries I have, I’m still able to go out there and perform to a higher ability. Even if there are guys who are the older veterans, you know, guys that I watched on television, they’re still out there but you know what? They’re still signing autographs. They’re still partaking in the show and if, you know, to me, that’s where you put them in the tag team matches that are with the younger guys who can go. You look at my show, when you go on the website. My match with the Dudley’s that’s going to be a throwback to the violent era of ECW. Then you have AJ Styles, the New Japan Heavyweight Champion, he’s wrestling Chris Hero, which, to me, that’s going to be a really good wrestling match. I’ve always been a guy that’s stuck by stipulations and to say ‘it’s real to me damn it’, it is. When I did Hardcore Justice for TNA, I wrote that show and I said, ‘That’s the last time me and Raven are ever going to wrestle’. Promoters have asked me to wrestle Raven and I said ‘no. I’m not going to do it’. Same with Terry Funk. My last show in Poughkeepsie was me and Terry Funk for the last time ever tagging together. For me, the last show I’m going to do Tony Neese, Petey Williams and Alex Reynolds. Not a lot of people know them, but they’re matches were so good; they were the semi-main event of my show because they do a whole different insane wrestling style. Petey Williams did a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope.”
As previously reported, the Seth Rollins heel turn against The Shield on this past Monday’s RAW was actually not written into the script for the show. Apparently the Rollins heel turn was officially decided upon on Sunday afternoon prior to the WWE Payback pay-per-view.
According to one source, Rollins turning heel was Vince McMahon’s way of reacting to the low RAW rating for the Payback “go-home” show the week before.
The following are highlights from the latest online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On presenting at this year’s Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion: “Tonight is the big, CAC banquet where I will be presenting Terry Taylor w/ an award while Jerry Brisco will be honoring Michael Hayes. WWE has reserved two tables at the banquet which is very supportive.”
“I encourage all fans and especially the IWC to become members of the CAC and help support CAC’s charitable causes.”
On additional thoughts he has regarding The Shield’s breakup on RAW: “Even though I’d personally preferred that the Shield stayed together a bit longer IE imploded at Summer Slam, the turn Monday night was well executed. Heels, generally, need to be able to absorb a believable ass whipping and bump with ease and Seth Rollins certainly fills the bill. Plus, Rollins can talk well but, for some reason, I expect other shoes to drop in and around this matter before Summer Slam.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
This week’s edition of WWE Raw took place in Indianapolis, IN and was the post-Payback episode of the longest running weekly episodic television show in history. The card featured a total of nine matches, including a contest between John Cena and Kane, as well as a Money in the Bank qualifying match between Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio.
The show also featured two incidents that will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the storyline for weeks to come. A lot of questions were answered, but many still remain. Here are five questions that need to be answered following this week’s edition of Raw.
5. Is Cesaro Going to Challenge for the Intercontinental Championship?
On this week’s Raw, Cesaro abandoned his partner Bad News Barrett, leaving him helpless against the team of RVD and Sheamus. After the match, Cesaro stood on the stage staring at Bad News Barrett, perhaps alluding to an upcoming feud between the two for the IC strap.
This feud could help both parties, as it would provide Barrett with a worthy opponent to work with, while also allowing Cesaro to challenge for the company’s second most important title. With rumors of Cesaro being the top contender to win the Money in the Bank briefcase, there are a few directions they could take with the King of Swing, and fans would likely welcome any push.
4. Will WWE Listen to the Fans and Push Dolph Ziggler?
One of the biggest injustices of the past year has been Dolph Ziggler’s demotion to the midcard. After finally cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase, Ziggler won the World Heavyweight Championship from Alberto Del Rio on the Raw after WrestleMania last year.
His reign would ultimately be cut short following a concussion, and after a few harsh words directed at John Cena, Ziggler’s burial was a certainty. He hasn’t been able to claw his way out of the doghouse since, despite calls from fans to give him a push.
There were chants for Ziggler during the match between Big E and Rusev at Payback, and it seemed like he might finally get back on track during a Money in the Bank qualifying match against Alberto Del Rio on this week’s Raw. The hopes of Ziggler fans around the world were quickly dashed, however, as he was forced to tap out to the Cross Armbreaker and it looks like Dolph has become a permanent fixture at the bottom of the card.
3. Who Benefited More from Their Feud: John Cena or Bray Wyatt?
During their last man standing match at Payback, John Cena literally buried Bray Wyatt after slamming him through a crate that was conveniently placed at the foot of a table.
Now that it appears their feud is over, one has to wonder which superstar benefited more from the program. It is hard to argue that any victory could put Cena over more. Wyatt used the program to get himself over with the audience, but he ultimately looked weak in each of their contests.
Wyatt lost two of the three matches, and his one victory came with the help of Harper, Rowan, and a child. Ultimately, Cena did not gain anything from the feud, and Wyatt is just as over as he was before and looked weak throughout, so I would say that neither guy really benefited.
In his latest weekly sit-down interview with Michael Cole, WWE COO Triple H addressed Seth Rollins’ shocking betrayal of The Shield on RAW and Batista’s decision to “quit” WWE.
– Triple H said he sought out Rollins because he’s the brains, architect, and glue of The Shield. With Rollins gone, The Shield is no longer a unit, only two individuals. He did not explain why Rollins decided to join Evolution – but Michael Cole did note that Rollins declined an offer to be his interview guest this week.
– Regarding Batista quitting WWE on RAW, Hunter said, “It’s what Dave does.” Hunter mocked Batista decision to do movies and said, added, “I know Dave well enough to know that he doesn’t have a Plan B.”
Seth Rollins’ shocking heel turn on Monday’s RAW was not written into the show’s script.
While this could imply that Rollins betraying The Shield was a last-minute decision, we’ve heard that the angle was planned several days before it took place. WWE has known for a long time that Batista would be taking time off this summer to promote his new Guardians of the Galaxy movie and this year’s major ‘summer shakeup’ angle took place earlier than usual.
The script that was used at Monday’s RAW had John Cena vs. Kane in the main event.
After Seth Rollins turned on The Shield on Monday’s RAW, Roman Reigns, who was attacked by Rollins with a chair, tweeted the following about trust, showing off his back again.
After last niight’s WWE RAW show went off the air, Triple H, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins stuck around for a little while longer as officials checked on Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. HHH and Orton shook hands and embraced with Rollins a few more times, confirming their new alignment.
After that, John Cena and Bray Wyatt came out. Wyatt sang, “he’s got the whole world in his hands,” while Cena sang a remix of the song, “you’ve got no penis in your pants.”
The two eventually had a little post-show dark match, which Cena ended up winning via the Attitude Adjustment.
The following are highlights from the latest blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:
On Seth Rollins turning on The Shield: “Raw was an o.k. show with a hot ending. Therefore the thing that most people will take away from the broadcast was Seth Rollins turning his back on Ambrose and Reigns and apparently aligning himself with HHH and Randy Orton. Or did he?
I always thought that Dean Ambrose was the natural heel of the Shield but I’ve got no issues with Seth Rollins doing the dirty deed even though in a perfect world I would have preferred that the Shield stay together a little longer. Apparently, WWE felt compelled to re-shuffle the deck which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’d assume that several dominoes will fall as time moves forward and the company prepares for a major push to Summer Slam. In other words, I’d assume that multiple cards are up in the air and won’t land on the table until August.”
On Money In The Bank: “Like most I was surprised that Dolph Ziggler lost again on Raw and failed to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match but somehow, someway I’m not ruling Ziggler out of that bout. Perhaps it’s just my wishful thinking but wouldn’t it be wild if Ziggler left MITB as the new WWE Champion?”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Seth Rollins turned on The Shield during the main event segment on the post-WWE Payback edition of RAW.
Instead of the originally scheduled Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns main event, Triple H revealed that he had a “plan B.” After saying that, Seth Rollins attacked both Reigns and Dean Ambrose with a steel chair, blasting them repeatedly with it. HHH and Orton stood at ringside all-the-while smiling in approval as they saw their plan come to fruition.
They end up joining Rollins in the ring to attack Reigns and Ambrose some more.
Shield member Seth Rollins recently spoke to Jonathan Snowden of Bleacher Report to promote WWE’s new Greatest Factions DVD/Blu-Ray. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The Shield Perceived As One Of Wrestling’s Greatest Factions: “You know what, man? Even if I really had the opportunity to sit back and really take that information in, I don’t know if it would ever become less surreal. You’re talking about guys who are legends in our business, who really paved the way for people like myself and Dean and Roman. That’s pretty impressive, to even be in the same breath as those guys. It’s just pretty wild.”
How Veterans Deal With His Fast-Paced Style: “It was mostly trial by fire. You get out there and, once you steal the show a couple of times, you start to earn the trust of those guys you’re talking about. They start to see that what you do works, and if they don’t have a better answer for you, they’ve just got to trust. It’s kind of like that in any working environment.”
“The guys know what they’re doing. They know how to work. They’ve been doing it for a long time. And when you come in with a new idea, people are going to be skeptical. But once they see that your style works too, that there’s multiple ways to stack this ice cream and it all tastes delicious in the end, they’re going to be more willing to work with you. That’s just the nature of politics I guess, right?”
The Shield Eventually Breaking Up, As All Great Factions Have: “You know, you say that, but I don’t know if these factions are all ever really dead. Because when Shawn (Michaels) and Hunter (Triple H) get back together and you get that “Are you Ready?” pumping on the Titan Tron, or when you get Scott (Hall) and Kevin (Nash) together and they put up the “Too Sweet” to each other, or you put Arn and Ric in the same room, they’re definitely not enemies.”
“It doesn’t always have to end badly. There’s a lot of longevity that comes with having a gang of friends with you throughout your career in this business. So there’s no telling when The Shield will run its course. If it ever will. We’re just happy riding this wave of success right now, trying to make this place a better place for everybody, wrestlers and fans alike, and we’re going to keep doing that until we can’t do it anymore.”
Currently there are three matches officially announced for the upcoming WWE Payback pay-per-view on June 1st in Chicago, Illinois. Those matches are The Shield vs. Evolution in a No Holds Barred Elimination match, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a Last Man Standing match and Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Other matches likely for WWE Payback include The Usos vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan for the WWE Tag-Team Championships, Paige vs. Alicia Fox for the WWE Divas Championship, Sheamus vs. Cesaro for the WWE United States Championship, Adam Rose vs. Jack Swagger, Rusev vs. Big E. and Summer Rae vs. Layla with Fandango as special guest referee.
As far as the No Holds Barred Elimination main event, a possible scenario being considered is one that would see Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins eliminated early, leaving Roman Reigns to make a huge comeback on all three Evolution members by himself.
The match will be Batista’s final match in WWE for several months, and based on plans for the future, could be one of Triple H’s last for a while as well.