This Friday on Rewind-A-Wai #23 we are reviewing the WWE Payback 2013 event, as chosen by Espresso Executive Producer @dans250.
Leave any feedback, questions & comments coming out of the show.
You can watch Payback on the WWE Network.
WWE Payback
Sunday, June 16th, 2013
Chicago, Illinois at Allstate Arena
*John Cena vs. Ryback in a 3 Stages of Hell match for the WWE title
*Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton & Daniel Bryan for the tag titles
*CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
*Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World title
*Dean Ambrose vs. Kane for the United States title
*Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee for the Diva’s title
*Wade Barrett vs. Curtis Axel vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental title
Punk in Chicago was always a spectacle to watch as he felt like the greatest wrestler ever in front of them, it also helped that him & Jericho had a really great match. I remember Dolph/Del Rio being really fun as well that a great double turn which is incredibly hard to pull off at times. I also remember this being the time of the rise of the Shield, you can see early on how much WWE liked the trio and when you look at the whole run they are one of the most protected acts the company has had in a very long time. Overall, I feel this show was generally made better because of the crowd they had. That crowd would be able to take a good show and make it great.
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Greetings John and Wai!
I was excited to see Payback 13’ was the choice as I attended the show with my friends. The pre-show routine involved a gauntlet of shots followed by $8 beers when we arrived. Needless to say we were sauced and ready for the show. The two matches that stand out most in my memory are : Del Rio/Ziggler and Punk/ Jericho. While the double turn in Del Rio/Ziggler was great, that super kick killed Ziggler’s momentum and he has never been the same. The buzz for Punk returning was incredible and his return was one of the biggest pops I can recall in person. I have been to the Super Dome and AT&T Stadium for Wrestlemania’s, but nothing quite matches the buzz inside the Rosemont Horizon (I refuse to call it the All-State Arena).
Question: What in the hell happened to Ryback?
Thanks
I remember the high praise this show got and being well booked. Summer 2013 was a great period for the company that featured a string of great ppvs and high level match quality. CM Punk no doubt had the best ppv matches out of anybody in the company for 2013. he was able to pull great matches out of Rock, Taker, Jericho, and Brock. after Money in The Bank 2011, any time the company ran a tv or ppv in Chicago, Punk appearing was always treated as a special occasion.
2 questions
- John, Do you remember what the feeling in the company was on Punk’s status at this time before he walked out in January?
- how would you guys compare the current crop of talent that are currently signed today to the one in 2013?
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Andrew from Cape Breton
So the show was ok. The time period is pretty recent, and a lot about the presentation was so similar to nowadays. That should be expected for a show that is only 5 years old, but even with that, I still can’t get over how the women are viewed. It’s like the show goes from being 5 years old to 20 years old for one segment. The AJ/Kaitlyn match I thought was pretty good too, but the commentary from Jerry Lawler specifically was so cringe worthy. I guess I’m shocked that myself and other fans kinda just viewed that as normal. I guess I also had just listened to Rewind a Smackdown before I watched this, and the talk of Becky Lynch being the top star on Smackdown to this match was incredibly jarring. The many eras in WWE have been defined by different things, but I think the current one will be remembered for the women, and women being presented as top stars for the first time. Honestly, that’s was the big takeaway from this show. Outside of some stars, it’s a similar roster, but the presentation of the women is what stands out. And it’s only 5 years ago.
6 fellow women trying to console you out of 10.
Mj from Nj,
Ryback gone
Roman out indefinitely
Punk gone
Jericho gone
Del Rio gone
Kaitlyn gone
Aj gone
Wade Barrett gone
Guys, 2013 was not that long ago!
And if we are looking at 50% of the card that is still active / with the company:
Kane is a mayor
Cena is moving to acting
Bryan just came out of his first retirement
It’s definitely interesting to me when these more recent shows are chosen for Rewinds and you look who was on the card and ask: Where Are They Now?
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I really liked this period of time historically. I have never been a John Cena fan but this mini period from mania to summerslam really highlighted cenas strength as a face. Punk as the 1B star to cenas 1A worked for me too. Ryback turning on cena the raw after mania was expertly done and added a much needed edge to Ryback’s character. It also made the booking of Mark Henry beating him at mania foolish. A common theme of wwe booking.
One of my fave parts of this show was Curtis Axel winning the IC title on Father’s day. I thought Joe Henig had so much potential but poor gimmicks and poor names have made him a joke years later.
Overall, the stars felt bigger, the booking was still foolish and the in ring wrestling is so much better today. An interesting choice from the Espresso executive for sure.