| Payback | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuringTriple H holding his trademarksledgehammer | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Date | June 1, 2014 | ||
| City | Rosemont,Illinois | ||
| Venue | Allstate Arena | ||
| Attendance | 13,311 | ||
| Buy rate | 67,000[1](excludingWWE Network views) | ||
| Tagline | Payback… it's what's Best for Business! | ||
| WWE event chronology | |||
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| Payback chronology | |||
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The 2014Payback was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) andlivestreamingevent produced byWWE. It was the second annualPayback and took place on June 1, 2014, at theAllstate Arena in theChicago suburb ofRosemont,Illinois for the second consecutive year. This was the first Payback event to livestream on theWWE Network, which launched in February. The theme of the event was wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event,The Shield (Dean Ambrose,Seth Rollins, andRoman Reigns) defeatedEvolution (Triple H,Randy Orton, andBatista) in aNo Holds Barredsix-man tag team elimination match. In other prominent matches,John Cena defeatedBray Wyatt in aLast Man Standing match andBad News Barrett defeatedRob Van Dam to retain theWWE Intercontinental Championship.
This was the first WWE pay-per-view sinceArmageddon in December 2006 not to feature a men's world championship match on the card. Payback drew 67,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views), down fromprevious year's 186,000 buys.
In 2013,WWE established a newpay-per-view (PPV) titledPayback, which replaced their previously well-known event,No Way Out. The concept of the event was the wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.[2] The 2014 Payback was subsequently the secondPayback, thus establishing Payback as an annual event. It took place on June 1, 2014, at theAllstate Arena in theChicago suburb ofRosemont,Illinois for the second consecutive year.[3] In addition to traditional pay-per-view, the event was available through WWE'slivestreaming service, theWWE Network, which launched in February, which made it the first Payback to air on the WWE Network.[4][3]
The event comprised nine matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,Raw andSmackDown.[5][6]
The main feud heading into the event was betweenEvolution (Triple H,Randy Orton, andBatista) andThe Shield (Dean Ambrose,Seth Rollins, andRoman Reigns). After losing to them atExtreme Rules,[7] Evolution continued to feud with The Shield. The following night onRaw, Triple H forced Ambrose to defend hisUnited States Championship in a 20-manbattle royal, which was won bySheamus. The Shield then foughtThe Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt,Luke Harper, andErick Rowan) later in the night; just as things turned in The Shield's favor, Evolution came out and distracted The Shield, allowing Wyatt to pick up the win for the Wyatt Family by pinning Reigns. Evolution then assaulted The Shield and hit Reigns with The Shield's signature triple power bomb.[8] The following week, The Shield challenged Evolution to a rematch at Payback, which Evolution accepted.[9] It was announced the following week onRaw that the match at Payback would be aNo Holds Barredsix-man elimination tag team match.[10]
Since costing him title matches at theRoyal Rumble[11] andElimination Chamber,[12] The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan) have been feuding withJohn Cena. This led to several matches at subsequent events, with Cena defeating Bray Wyatt atWrestleMania XXX in a singles match[13] and Wyatt winning aSteel Cage match atExtreme Rules via escaping from the cage.[7] On the May 12 episode ofRaw, Wyatt challenged Cena to aLast Man Standing match,[9] which was accepted by Cena on the May 16 episode ofSmackDown.[14]
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionDaniel Bryan announced on May 12 that he would have undergo neck surgery later that week.[9] Because of this,Stephanie McMahon suggested that Daniel Bryan would have to surrender the title if he cannot return to action by the pay-per-view where he was originally scheduled to defend againstKane. While his surgery was successful, it was still unknown if Bryan could compete for the title, so McMahon gave him another week to surrender the title.[10] On the May 26 episode ofRaw, Bryan stated that while he found no shame in dropping the title due to injury, he did not want to give it to McMahon after everything he had been through. Upset at this, she gave Bryan one more chance to give her the title saying that if he did not surrender the title to her by the pay-per-view, she would fire his wifeBrie Bella.[15]
El Torito andHornswoggle would continue their feud. They previously fought atExtreme Rules in the first ever WeeLC match, which saw Torito defeat Hornswoggle.[7] Hornswoggle put forth aMask vs. Hair match, wagering his hair against El Torito's mask, which would take place on the Kickoff pre-show.[15]
Paige defended herWWE Divas Championship againstAlicia Fox at Payback. The two divas faced each other on the May 12 episode ofRaw, which Paige won,[9] and on the May 19 episode ofRaw, which Fox won.[10]
Sheamus defended his United States Championship againstCesaro at Payback. The two wrestlers fought to a double countout on the May 13 episode ofMain Event.[16] On the May 19 episode ofRaw, Cesaro defeated Sheamus in a non-title rematch due to a distraction from Cesaro's managerPaul Heyman, setting up the title match at the pay-per-view.[10]
On the May 19 episode ofRaw, there were threebeat the clock challenge matches to determine a new number one contender to faceBad News Barrett for theWWE Intercontinental Championship at Payback. The matches wereBig E vs.Ryback,Rob Van Dam vs.Alberto Del Rio, andDolph Ziggler vs.Mark Henry. Big E beat Ryback to set a time of 5:02; Van Dam defeated Del Rio and set a new time of 4:15, and Ziggler and Henry wrestled to a time limit draw. This gave Van Dam the win and the title shot.[10]
On the May 26 episode ofRaw,Zack Ryder celebratedMemorial Day by coming out with an American flag before facingRusev. Rusev defeated Ryder via submission, but refused to let go after the bell rang untilBig E came in, eventually knocking Rusev out of the ring. This set up a match between both men at Payback.[15]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| EnglishCommentators | Michael Cole |
| Jerry Lawler | |
| John "Bradshaw" Layfield | |
| Spanish Commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
| Marcelo Rodriguez | |
| Ricardo Rodriguez | |
| Backstageinterviewer | Byron Saxton |
| Ring announcers | Lilian Garcia |
| Justin Roberts | |
| Referees | Charles Robinson |
| John Cone | |
| Darrick Moore | |
| Ryan Tran | |
| Chad Patton | |
| Pre-show panel | Josh Mathews |
| Booker T | |
| Kofi Kingston | |
| Alex Riley |
During the Payback Kickoff pre-show, El Torito defeated Hornswoggle in a Mask vs. Hair match which was followed by El Torito shaving the head of Hornswoggle in a barber's chair at ringside.[17]
The actual pay-per-view opened with Sheamus defending the United States Championship against Cesaro (accompanied by Paul Heyman). In the end, Cesaro performed a Cesaro Swing on Sheamus. As Cesaro went to pin Sheamus, Sheamus pinned Cesaro with a Small Package to retain the title.[18]
Next,Cody Rhodes and Goldust facedRyback andCurtis Axel. The match ended whenRhodes attempted a Beautiful Disaster Kick on Ryback but Ryback caught Rhodes and executed Shellshocked on Rhodes for the win the match. After the match, Rhodes toldGoldust that because they lost a lot of matches together recently, he deserved a better partner and walked out on him.[18]
After that, Rusev (accompanied byLana) wrestled Big E. Rusev forced Big E to submit to The Accolade to win the match.[18]
In the fourth match,Kofi Kingston facedBo Dallas. The match was ruled a no-contest after Kane came down to the ring and attacked Kingston with a Chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver.[18]
Later, Bad News Barrett defended the Intercontinental Championship against Rob Van Dam. The end came when Van Dam attempted a Split Legged Moonsault but Barrett countered the move by raising his knees. Barrett executed a Bull Hammer to retain the title.[18]
Next was an in-ring segment involving WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and Stephanie McMahon about Bryan surrendering the championship or his wife Brie Bella would be fired. As Bryan was about to surrender the title, Brie announced that she had quit instead. After McMahon laughed at her, Brie slapped McMahon.[18]
In the next match, John Cena faced Bray Wyatt (accompanied by Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) in a Last Man Standing match. Before the match,Tag Team ChampionsThe Usos (Jey Uso andJimmy Uso) came out to support Cena and counteract Harper and Rowan of The Wyatt Family. During the match, both men executed their respective finishing moves - Wyatt a Sister Abigail and Cena an Attitude Adjustment - but in both cases, the opponent did not stay down. After Rowan attacked Cena, Harper and Rowan fought with The Usos. After both men attacked the other with a chair, Wyatt performed a Drop Suplex through a table on Cena but Cena beat the count. Cena leapt off the apron but Wyatt caught Cena and executed Sister Abigail, with Cena managing to stand. Cena delivered an Attitude Adjustment to Wyatt but Harper and Rowan came back, attacked Cena and helped Wyatt stand. The Usos came back, attacking Harper and Rowan. Jey put Rowan through a table with a Running Hip Attack, which was followed by Harper putting Jimmy through two tables with a Superplex. Wyatt executed a Running Crossbody through the barricade on Cena, who managed to stand. In the end, Cena executed an Attitude Adjustment through an equipment crate on Wyatt and pushed another crate onto the crate which Wyatt was in. As Wyatt could not stand, Cena won the match. The match would later be namedMatch of the Year byPro Wrestling Illustrated.[18]
In the penultimate match, Paige defended the WWE Divas Championship against Alicia Fox. Paige forced Fox to submit to the PTO to retain the title.[18]
In the main event, The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose) faced Evolution in a no holds barred six-man tag team elimination match. At the start, Rollins fought with Triple H, Ambrose fought with Orton, and Reigns fought with Batista. Eventually, the two teams fought in the ring. The match descended into a brawl throughout the arena, where Orton attacked Ambrose and Triple H hit Rollins with a TV monitor. Evolution performed a Triple Powerbomb through a broadcast table on Reigns. Ambrose and Rollins fought with Evolution in the entrance way, where Orton executed a Belly-to-Back Suplex through a chair on Ambrose and Triple H executed a Pedigree on Rollins onto a chair. Back in the ring, Batista executed a Spinebuster on Reigns, Evolution hit Reigns with kendo sticks whilst he was incapacitated on the steel steps.[18]
Reigns executed a Superman Punch on Orton, but Triple H hit Reigns with a chair. Evolution fought with The Shield in the entrance way again, where Rollins leapt off the TitanTron onto Evolution. Back in the ring, Rollins attempted a diving knee, Batista countered with a mid-air spear. When he was just about to cover Rollins, Reigns executed a spear on Batista, allowing Rollins to eliminate him. Ambrose hit Orton after Orton attempted a second-rope DDT on Reigns with a chair and executed Dirty Deeds onto the chair to eliminate him. Triple H hit a low blow on Ambrose and attempted a Pedigree but Reigns executed a Superman Punch on Triple H. Batista executed a Spear on Reigns and Orton passed Triple H his sledgehammer. Triple H hit Ambrose with the sledgehammer and attempted to hit Reigns with the sledgehammer but Rollins executed a springboard high knee on Triple H. Reigns executed a spear on Triple H to eliminate him and win the match for The Shield with a clean sweep.[18]
On the June 2 episode ofRaw, Stephanie McMahon announced that Daniel Bryan would defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane in astretcher match if he was able to compete. If Bryan was not able to compete, he would be stripped of the title, and theMoney in the Bank ladder match at thetitular pay-per-view would be for the vacated WWE World Heavyweight Championship.[19] However, Bryan was officially stripped of the title on the June 9 episode ofRaw.[20]
While Evolution was in the ring addressing that their loss to The Shield was not the end of their feud, Batista interrupted Triple H, demanding the one-on-one WWE World Heavyweight Championship match which he earned at the Royal Rumble. After Triple H explained that Batista cannot have a title shot that night due to Bryan's injury, Batista announced his resignation and left the ring. Later that night, Triple H and Randy Orton confronted The Shield, with Triple H announcing that their loss at Payback was "Plan A", and that he had a "Plan B". Without warning, Seth Rollins attacked Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns with a steel chair, turning his back on The Shield and aligning himself withThe Authority.[19]
Bo Dallas took on Kofi Kingston in a rematch. Dallas ended up defeating Kingston continuing his undefeated streak.[19]
The next night onRaw, Cody Rhodes chooseSin Cara as the new partner for Goldust and the two took on Curtis Axel and Ryback. Sin Cara and Goldust ended up losing and Rhodes, who was watching the match backstage, had a disappointed look on his face.[19] He then proceeded to choose R-Truth next week onRaw and finally as a new persona called Stardust.[20] On June 27, a rematch pittingGold and Stardust against Ryback and Axel was scheduled for Money in the Bank.[21]
Big E and Rusev also continued their feud, leading to a rematch at Money in the Bank.[21]
| Elimination | Wrestler | Team | Eliminated by | Elimination move | Times[18] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Batista | Evolution | Seth Rollins | Pinned after aSpear from Reigns | 27:32 |
| 2 | Randy Orton | Evolution | Dean Ambrose | Pinned after aDirty Deeds on a chair | 28:37 |
| 3 | Triple H | Evolution | Roman Reigns | Pinned after aDivinghigh knee from Rollins and a Spear | 30:56 |
| Winner(s): | The Shield (clean sweep) | — | |||