Payback began with the highly anticipated match between Chris Jericho and Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Title. Jericho had won the belt in the Intercontinental Tournament, but Ziggler was upset since Jericho did not defeat him in the tournament. Jericho tried to make quick work of the Show Off, superplexing him off the top rope early in the match. But a reversed whip into the corner allowed Ziggler to hit Y2J with his shoulder and then followed it up with a German Suplex.
The two then traded blows, with neither gaining control. They then found themselves on the outside of the ring, with Ziggler throwing Jericho into the steel steps. However, Jericho was able to beat the referee’s count, getting back into the ring. Jericho fought back and hit the Codebreaker out of nowhere. During the pin attempt, Ziggler tried to put his foot on the rope, but couldn’t reach it. The referee counted the three and Jericho was victorious. He lifted up the Intercontinental Title as Ziggler looked on in disgust.
Next, The Shield team of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins defended the Tag Team Titles against the APA. Dean Ambrose accompanied the Shield to the ring for the bout. Reigns and Faarooq started the match for their teams. It was fairly even but the Shield were able to isolate Faarooq in their corner with quick tags. Rollins was the legal man and he hit Faarooq with a superkick, but Faarooq got a foot on the rope to break up the count.
Faarooq desperately crawled to his corner to tag in Bradshaw, but Ambrose came around and grabbed into Bradshaw’s leg from the back, knocking him off of the apron. The referee saw this and ejected Ambrose from ringside. He, and his teammates, were livid, and the APA took advantage, with Bradshaw tagging in and almost scoring the pinfall on Rollins.
Rollins was stranded in No Man’s Land until he was able to sneak away and get a tag to Reigns. Reigns dominated Bradshaw and punched Faarooq off of the apron. Bradshaw recovered and went for the Clothesline from Hell but Reigns ducked and bounced off of the ropes, spearing Bradshaw. Faarooq tried to climb back into the ring to break up the pin, but it was too late as the Shield defended their title.
The US Title Match was up next, and it had some serious heat going in after Justin Gabriel saw his title reign finally end the previous week to Shawn Michaels. Along with Billy Gunn, who earned a number one contender’s match earlier in the month, the triple threat match was underway. There were going to be no sides taken in this match as Gabriel burned some bridges in the locker room and HBK was mad at Gunn for walking out on D-X.
The action started with an all-out brawl between the three. Gabriel and Gunn did wear down HBK early on before they started fighting each other. Gunn took the fight outside of the ring with Gabriel where he threw the former champ into the steps. HBK rolled out of the ring to attack Gunn from behind and the two took the fight back into the ring.
HBK had the advantage on Gunn, taking him to school with some vintage Michaels moves. After a suplex, Michaels was all fired up, calling for his finisher. But Gabriel slid into the ring and attacked Michaels from the side, killing his momentum in the match. After taking out HBK with a corkscrew plancha, Gabriel went to work on Gunn, wearing down the former D-X member. Gabriel had him down and jumped to the top rope, looking to hit the 450 splash. But as he was mid-air, Gunn threw his knees up and caught Gabriel. Gunn got up and landed the FameAsser on Gabriel. But as Gunn got back up, he was hit by a Sweet Chin Music and knocked out cold by HBK. Michaels got the pin and retained his belt.
Backstage, Roose was getting dressed for the big six-man tag match later in the night. Kofi and Rey walked in and told the Commish they liked his bright attire. Roose replied that he designed it himself. Rey asked if he was ready and Roose started getting fired up. Kofi told him to calm down as he didn’t want Roose to burn all of his energy before the match started.
Trish Stratus then defended her Diva’s Title against Beth Phoenix. The two divas battled with Beth taking an early advantage. Beth tried for the Glam Slam but couldn’t connect. Trish started to gain momentum when AJ came out, skipping. Trish yelled at her to stop and Beth rolled the distracted Trish up in a pin attempt, but only got a two count. Trish was furious and took her aggression out on Beth, eventually finishing the match with a Stratusfaction.
Real Deal was shown in the back getting loose for the six-man tag match. Dressed in gym attire, he was stretching when Angle and Henry approached him. Angle told him that he and Henry will try to keep him out of harm’s way and do most of the work. Real Deal understood but said he wanted a piece of Roose at the very least. Henry said he thinks they can agree with that.
It was time for the Number One contender’s match for the World Heavyweight title between John Cena and Randy Orton. The two had an interesting month where they stayed in cohesion enough to last the time leading up to Payback, but boiled over at the end of Smackdown. The two, who are both loved by the WWE fans, stood toe to toe at the start of the match. Orton threw his arms up in the air to throw Cena off his game. Cena responded by waving his hand across his face to let Orton know he can’t see him before initiating the fight with a kick to the gut.
The two traded blows and it was a fast start to the match. Cena had Orton worn down early, using his power to apply a sleeper hold in an attempt to knock out Orton. With chants of “Let’s Go Cena” and “Let’s Go Orton” filling the arena, Orton battled back to wriggle his way out of the hold. Orton began to rally, hitting a pair of clothslines and hitting his patented scoop slam. As Cena crawled to the ropes, Orton grabbed him in an attempt to pull of his vintage DDT. Cena was ready for it and flipped Orton over the top ropes and onto the floor.
Cena fell into the ring and Orton laid on the floor while the ref counted. Orton just slid into the ring as the count reached 9 and the two began to battle again. Cena went for an AA but Orton countered out of it. Orton went to hit an RKO but Cena turned it into a slam. Cena stood over Orton and landed the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He put Orton into the STF and Orton tried to worm his way out. As Orton slithered closer to the ropes, Cena loosened his grip and dragged Orton back to the center of the ring. Orton couldn’t do anything but tap and it was over.
The WWE Title was on the line next as CM Punk defended against Kane. Punk delayed his entrance, making Kane wait in the middle of the ring. But when his music played for the second time, Punk snuck through the crowd and attacked Kane as Kane’s back was to him. The match officially got underway. Punk tried to chop Kane down with a series of kicks, but Kane fought him off.
However, Kane started to gain momentum as he hit the top rope flying clothesline and signaled for the Tombstone. Punk was able to wiggle out of the move and set Kane up for a GTS, but Kane grabbed onto the rope, breaking the hold. Punk then knocked Kane down and started twisting Kane’s legs in order to keep him grounded. Kane battled back to his feet and eventually reversed a Punk move into a Chokeslam. To the shock of the crowd and Kane himself, Punk was able to kick out at 2.
The two traded blows once again but Punk was finally able to find an opening and set Kane up for the GTS, seemingly ending the match. But Kane kicked out at the last second. Punk was in disbelief as he couldn’t put the Big Red Machine down. He then went to the top rope for a flying elbow, but Kane caught him in mid-air, putting Punk down with another Chokeslam. Punk again was able to kick out.
Punk fought back and finally took control of the match once again. He knocked down Kane with a dropkick and this time applied the Anaconda Vise. Kane fought to get to the ropes but was unable to and tapped out. CM Punk retained his title in thrilling fashion.
It was finally time for the big six man tag match pitting Raw GM Real Deal and Team USA against Smackdown’s GM Roose and his team, Kofi & Rey. Kofi and Angle started the match. Kofi took the early advantage, prompting Angle to tag in Henry, who showed his strength over the smaller Kofi. Kofi was able to tag in Rey and he hit Henry with a Hurricanrana.
Both Real Deal and Roose kept asking their partners to tag them in but their teammates would not tag them in. Eventually, Rey jumped through the top rope and put Henry through the announce table. Angle and Kofi battled in the ring and both needed to make a tag. They crawled to their corners as the GMs were finally tagged in.
Roose and Real Deal traded punches before Real Deal whipped Roose off of the ropes and clotheslined him. Roose came back and threw Real Deal into the corner and then splashed the Raw Commissioner. The two continued their battle, and eventually Roose pulled off his patented Roose Bottom; however, Angle made the save to break up the pin attempt.
In the chaos of the four in the ring, Angle hit Roose with an Olympic Slam and then threw Kofi out of the ring. Real Deal went to the top rope and hit an elbow drop on Roose and scored the pinfall for his team. Henry slowly made his way back into the ring and the duo raised Real Deal’s hand in victory.
The main event was for the World Heavyweight Championship. The challenger, Sheamus, looked to get his championship belt back against Alberto Del Rio. The two have an ugly history already and this just fueled it even more.
Del Rio started off the match with a series of kicks to try and weaken Sheamus’ ribs and arm. It was a smart strategy, but it gave Sheamus time to counter the moves. Sheamus then went on the attack, throwing Del Rio into the corner and hit a clothesline to the champion. The force knocked the two out of the ring and onto the floor. Del Rio got up first and threw Sheamus shoulder-first into the steps, further damaging his arm.
Del Rio rolled Sheamus back into the ring and continued on the offensive. He put Sheamus in an armbar, wearing him down even more. But the crowd began to work Sheamus back into a comeback and the Celtic Warrior battled back. As Sheamus threw Del Rio into the ropes, he went for the White Noise but Del Rio wormed his way out of it and somehow turned it into the Cross Arm Breaker. Sheamus used his strength to unhook Del Rio’s legs and roll on top of him. He grabbed Del Rio’s legs and put him in the Cloverleaf. Del Rio got to the ropes and broke it up.
Sheamus went for his double axe-handle but Del Rio connected with another stiff kick to the gut. He grabbed Sheamus’ arm and called for the Cross Arm Breaker again but Sheamus countered and lifted Del Rio into White Noise. He landed it and called for the Brogue Kick. Del Rio got up and walked into Sheamus’ boot, ending the match putting the title back in the hands of Sheamus.
Real Deal vs Roose: Road to Wrestlemania 