Highlights
- WWE Payback 2023 is scheduled for September 2nd and has some big shoes to fill after the successful run of Money in the Bank and SummerSlam.
- Exciting storylines are present on WWE television, with potential for awesome matches at Payback, including Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch in a steel cage grudge match.
- Other potential matches include Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship, a fatal four-way for the Women's Championship, Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Balor, and Gunther vs. Chad Gable for the Intercontinental Championship.
WWE Payback 2023 is scheduled to take place on September 2, 2023, from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After a hugely successful year for the WWE, especially the last two back-to-back massive Premium Live Events, Money in the Bank and SummerSlam, it could be said that Payback has some big boots to fill.
Luckily for the WWE Universe, there are plenty of exciting storylines on WWE television right now, and Payback has the potential to feature some truly awesome matches. While recent months have been dominated by The Bloodline storyline, it looks like The Usos and Reigns will be inactive at this event, giving the WWE chance to further advance another massive storyline with The Judgment Day, who are featured on the Payback poster, over on Raw. Currently, there are only three matches officially announced for the event, but plenty more are expected to be announced in the coming days.
With some exciting developments in the past few weeks, let's take a look at the potential match card that we could see go down at WWE Payback 2023.
8 Trish Stratus Vs. Becky Lynch in a steel cage grudge match
After a batch of bad press towards the WWE for cutting the highly anticipated women's match from WWE SummerSlam, Becky Lynch and WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus are finally scheduled to put their feud to rest in the biggest way possible. It was announced on WWE Main Event that Lynch and Stratus will meet inside a steel cage at the WWE Payback 2023 Premium Live Event, after lengthy speculation of when the two would finally get their finale.
Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch was the first match announced for WWE Payback 2023. Considering the amount of hype these two women have right now surrounding their omission from SummerSlam, there stands a chance that this could be the main event to close out the show. This is expected to be a massive grudge match with plenty of back and forth. And with Trish bringing some of her best career work to date in her latest WWE return run, this one has the potential to be off the charts and a true clash of generations in the WWE women's division.
Prediction: Becky Lynch wins cleanly to end the feud, Trish Stratus will be back around WrestleMania 40 for one last match.
7 Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship
On the August 7, 2023, edition of WWE Raw, the trigger was finally pulled on giving Shinsuke Nakamura a big push when he turned heel after landing a brutal Kinshasa to Rollins. Nakamura, a longtime favorite of the WWE Universe was a big project of Triple H's back in his NXT days, and he has been a prominently featured star on the main roster for a number of years. Despite quality runs with the midcard belts however, Nakamura has seldom been showcased as the main event level superstar that he is more than capable of being. That booking trend could be set to change now, as Nakamura has entered into a bitter and personal rivalry with WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Rollins.
After an in-ring war of words with Rollins demanding answers, Nakamura whispered some words to Rollins which rattled the reigning World Heavyweight Champion long enough for Nakamura to catch him off-guard with another Kinshasa. After weeks of speculation, Nakamura vs. Rollins was finally confirmed for Payback on the August 21, 2023, edition of Raw after Nakamura revealed information about Seth Rollins' nagging back injuries.
Prediction: Nakamura shockingly wins, writing Seth off TV for a while to tend to his nagging injuries.
6 The Miz Vs. LA Knight
LA Knight made a surprise appearance on Raw a few weeks back and entered a war of words with WWE veteran, The Miz. Following an entertaining promo battle, it was LA Knight that was left standing tall. Miz was after a little bit of 'payback' of his own on the August 18, 2023, edition of WWE SmackDown. Knight was set to battle Austin Theory for a shot at Rey Mysterio's United States Championship, but Miz made his presence felt early on when he joined the commentary table for the match.
A very happy Miz cost LA Knight the match after distracting The Megastar enough for Theory to pick up a cheap win. This brings The Miz and LA Knight at an even one and one on the playing field in getting the upper hand on the other. The match between The Miz and LA Knight is expected to go down at Payback, and this will be arguably the biggest match of LA Knight's current run as a white-hot favorite of the WWE Universe.
While the arena would erupt for Knight to get a clean win, don't be surprised if Miz utilizes some cheap tactics to win this one. The WWE is playing the long game with LA Knight, and they love drama. The audience in attendance, as well as social media, would go nuts if LA Knight wasn't to get the win and with Miz being such a perfect heel, this would be a quality way to get Knight even more love from the audience on his journey to the main event.
Prediction: LA Knight wins cleanly.
5 Iyo Sky Vs. Asuka Vs. Charlotte Flair Vs. Bianca Belair for the WWE Women's Championship
More cracks are continuing to appear in Damage CTRL as Bayley and Iyo Sky continue to have disagreements. This will inevitably result in Sky having a babyface turn, but for now, the focus is on building up the SmackDown women's division. WWE has put plenty of focus into the division as of late with the likes of Sky, Charlotte Flair, Bayley and Bianca Belair all becoming major players on the blue brand, and another major player who has seen a reignited career flame recently is Asuka.
Asuka was enjoying a quality reign as Women's Champion until she lost the title to Bianca Belair at SummerSlam after an awesome triple threat match also featuring Charlotte Flair. Following the match, Iyo Sky cashed in her Money in the Bank contract and stole a victory over Belair. A fatal four way for the Women's Title looks like it could potentially be in the works for Payback 2023 as the top stars of the women's division continue to be booked strongly and continue to be in each other's business without a clear dominant victor. After the success of the triple threat match, a fatal four way between the top women has the potential to be a masterpiece, but it wouldn't come as a surprise to see Bayley cost sky the title during the match.
Prediction: Bayley costs Iyo Sky the match 'inadvertently' and she loses the championship, likely to Bianca Belair.
4 Cody Rhodes Vs. Finn Balor
Cody Rhodes, along with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, have been all in The Judgment Day's business for a good while now. What we have been seeing is a classic face and heel feud between the battling rivals, while the heels also have growing issues of their own with the slow build feud between Finn Balor and Damian Priest destined to explode into action sooner rather than later. Cody is currently riding a white-hot wave of momentum as a top babyface in the WWE and is fresh off an incredible victory over Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, which saw The Beast raise Cody's hand high in an unplanned moment as a sign of respect.
Signs are pointing at Dirty Dom and Damian Priest having a shot at the Undisputed Tag Team Champions, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, which leaves Cody Rhodes in the driver's seat to go head-to-head with the unofficial leader of the pack, Finn Balor. Cody Rhodes and Finn Balor have met in the ring on several occasions in the past and have great chemistry together. A match between Cody Rhodes and Finn Balor could be made official for Payback, but what role will JD McDonagh, who also seemingly has made Cody a target, play in the match? And could he cost Cody the match and give The American Nightmar" a massive loss?
Prediction: Finn Balor wins via outside interference.
3 Gunther Vs. Chad Gable for the Intercontinental Championship
It is hard to deny that Gunther is probably the greatest Intercontinental Champion that the WWE has had in a generation. The Ring General is flawless in the squared circle, carries himself like a main event caliber champion and has all the makings to become a major player in the WWE for years to come. The only problem with his immensely strong booking is that there is a lack of proper contenders for the gold. Gunther has already run through Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, and an array of other superstars during his dominant reign.
Things have been heating up nicely between The Alpha Academy and Imperium recently, and Chad Gable is finally getting some well deserved love from WWE Creative. Gable is a wrestling machine and is well-loved by the WWE Universe who have been calling for him to receive a push for the longest time. On the August 21, 2023, edition of Raw, Gable gave Gunther his first main roster loss, albeit via count-out. As a result, The Ring General is bound to be out for revenge.
Gable looks set to battle Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at Payback in a rematch. This potential bout is destined to be an absolutely classic match and has the potential to be a show-stealer in terms of in-ring athleticism.
Prediction: Gunther wins cleanly to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
2 Rhea Ripley Vs. Raquel Rodriguez
It has to be said, competition for the Women's World Champion has been lacking on Raw as of late. Rhea Ripley is massively over and heavily protected on WWE programming, which also limits the potential for matches and feuds without damaging the momentum of other top women's superstars who will inevitably be 'fed' to her. Top Raw women's wrestlers such as Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus are locked in feuds elsewhere, and the WWE has been making moves to try and bring in fresh stars with the likes of Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville as of late, but Deville is currently sidelined with a serious injury relating to a torn ACL.
Another top athlete that the WWE has been putting stock in as of late is Raquel Rodriguez. The 32-year-old rising star is an NXT veteran and has a storied history with Ripley dating back to their time on the developmental brand. Their feud has been steadily progressing on the main roster recently and on the 21st August edition of Raw, Rodriguez made her return from a storyline injury inflicted on her by Ripley and launched a brutal assault on the champion. Rodriguez took to the microphone and announced that she has sealed the deal for a match against RIpley at Payback. Rodriguez has the talent and the crowd support behind her, but it is unlikely that she will dethrone Ripley, who as previously stated, is in the middle of an incredible run.
Prediction: Rhea Ripley wins cleanly.
1 Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn Vs. The Judgment Day's Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest
The Judgment Day has been one of the most prominently featured factions on WWE television for a lengthy period of time, but cracks are starting to show in their framework. On the August 14th edition of WWE Raw, former NXT star JD McDonagh, a friend of Finn Balor's, made his return during a segment with The Judgment Day's Dominik Mysterio, Rhea Ripley, and Damian Priest. The rift in the group is becoming more and more apparent as the weeks go by, and it looks all but confirmed that Damian Priest will either leave or be kicked out of the group and embark on a babyface run.
The Judgment Day have made Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn targets in recent weeks, and on the August 21st edition of Raw, Kevin Owens made his highly anticipated return to even the odds. Signs right now seem to be pointing towards Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defending their Undisputed Tag Team Championships against an iteration of The Judgment Day, most likely Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest.
JD McDonagh could interfere here, causing a distraction long enough for Priest to cost his team the match. This could result in a beat down from The Judgment Day on Priest, with JD joining the group in his stead. Owens and Zayn might return to the ring to make the save, turning Priest face in the process and finally making moves on the budding feud between Priest and Judgment Day's Finn Balor. Of course, this is all speculation right now, but the Premium Live Event would be the perfect time for Finn Balor to exercise some "Payback" of his own against Damian Priest for 'costing him' the World Heavyweight Championship.
Prediction: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn retain via disqualification.