Payback | |||
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![]() Promotional poster featuring Randy Orton | |||
Promotion | WWE | ||
Date | May 17, 2015 | ||
City | Baltimore, Maryland | ||
Venue | Royal Farms Arena | ||
Attendance | 10,000 | ||
Buy rate | 54,000 [1] (excluding WWE Network views) | ||
WWE Network event chronology | |||
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Payback chronology | |||
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The 2015 Payback was the third annual Payback professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on May 17, 2015, at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland and was the first Payback held outside of the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. The theme of the event was wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
Nine matches were contested at the event, including two on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Seth Rollins defeated Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Randy Orton in a fatal four-way match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches, The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) defeated Cesaro and Tyson Kidd in a two out of three falls match to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship, Bray Wyatt defeated Ryback, and John Cena defeated Rusev in an "I Quit" match to retain the WWE United States Championship. The event sold 54,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views), down from the previous year's 67,000 buys.
Payback was an annual professional wrestling event that was established by WWE in 2013. The concept of the event was the wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents. [2] The 2015 event was the third Payback and was held on May 17, 2015, at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The event aired on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and was livestreamed on the WWE Network. [3] Payback was available free to new subscribers on the WWE Network, as part of a 30-day free trial in over 140 countries. [4]
The event comprised nine matches, including two on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown . [5] [6]
At Extreme Rules, John Cena retained the United States Championship by defeating Rusev in a Russian Chain match. Later in the event, after consulting with The Authority, Lana stated that Cena would defend the title against Rusev in an "I Quit" match at the event. [7]
At Extreme Rules, Seth Rollins defeated Randy Orton in a Steel Cage match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after interference from Kane, Jamie Noble, and Joey Mercury. [7] On the April 27 episode of Raw, it was announced that, as a result of a vote on the WWE App, Rollins was scheduled to defend the title against Orton and Roman Reigns in a triple threat match at the event. [8] On the May 4 episode of Raw, Dean Ambrose defeated Rollins in a non-title match, and per the pre-match stipulation, he was added to the match, thus making the match a fatal four-way match. [9] On the May 11 episode of Raw, Triple H decided that if Rollins lost the title, Kane would no longer be the WWE Director of Operations. [10]
On the Extreme Rules Kickoff pre-show, Neville defeated Bad News Barrett. [11] On April 28, Barrett defeated Neville to win the King of the Ring tournament, changing his ring name to King Barrett. [12] On the May 7 episode of SmackDown, Neville and Dolph Ziggler defeated Barrett and Sheamus in a tag team match. [13] On the May 11 episode of Raw, a match between Barrett and Neville was scheduled for the event. [10]
At Extreme Rules, Dolph Ziggler defeated Sheamus in a Kiss Me Arse match. [7] On the May 7 episode of SmackDown, Ziggler and Neville defeated Sheamus and Barrett in a tag team match. [13] On the May 11 episode of Raw, Ziggler was scheduled to face Sheamus at the event. [10]
At Extreme Rules, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E, accompanied by Xavier Woods) defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. [7] On the April 30 episode of SmackDown, Kidd and Cesaro defeated The New Day by disqualification in a rematch for the titles. [14] On the May 11 episode of Raw, The New Day were scheduled to defend the titles against Kidd and Cesaro in a two out of three falls tag team match at the event. [10]
On the May 11 episode of Raw, The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) interrupted a match between Curtis Axel and Damien Sandow, in the guise of Macho Mandow, and attacked both wrestlers, resulting in Axel and Mandow teaming together to attack The Ascension. A match between the two pairs was scheduled for the Payback Kickoff pre-show. [10]
Bray Wyatt began sending messages to Ryback in April. On the April 27 and April 30 episodes of Raw, Wyatt attacked Ryback following the latter's victories over Bo Dallas [8] and Luke Harper, respectively. [14] On the May 11 episode of Raw, Ryback attacked Wyatt. [10] On May 13, a match between the two was scheduled for the event. [15]
Naomi was defeated by Divas Champion, Nikki Bella, at Extreme Rules, [7] and by Nikki's twin sister, Brie Bella, on the April 27 episode of Raw. [8] A week later, a returning Tamina Snuka joined Naomi in an attack on both Bella Twins. [9] On the May 11 episode of Raw, Tamina defeated Brie. [10] On the May 14 episode of SmackDown, a match between the two teams was scheduled for Payback. [16]
Role: | Name: |
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English commentators | Michael Cole |
Jerry Lawler | |
John "Bradshaw" Layfield | |
Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
Marcelo Rodriguez | |
Backstage interviewers | Tom Phillips |
Eden Stiles | |
Ring announcers | Eden Stiles |
JoJo | |
Referees | John Cone |
Darrick Moore | |
Rudy Charles | |
Jason Ayers | |
Pre-show panel | Renee Young |
Booker T | |
Corey Graves |
During the Payback Kickoff pre-show, R-Truth defeated Stardust after a "Lie Detector". Later, "The Mega Powers" (Macho Mandow and Curtis Axel) faced The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor), which The Ascension won after a "Fall of Man" to Mandow. [17]
The actual pay-per-view opened with Dolph Ziggler facing Sheamus. In the end, Sheamus performed a "Brogue Kick" on Ziggler to win the match. [18]
Next, The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Kidd and Cesaro won the first fall after Kidd performed a dropkick following a "Cesaro Swing" on Kingston. The New Day won the second fall after performing the "Midnight Hour" on Kidd. The New Day won the third fall after Xavier Woods sneaked in and pinned Cesaro with an inside cradle, meaning The New Day retained the titles. [18]
In the third match, Ryback faced Bray Wyatt. After Ryback collided with an exposed turnbuckle, Wyatt executed "Sister Abigail" on Ryback to win the match. [18]
The fourth match saw John Cena defend the United States Championship against Rusev in an "I Quit" match. At one point during the match, the fight spilled into the crowd, as well as the production area. Rusev eventually applied the "Accolade" on Cena. Cena did not quit, but passed out. Referee Mike Chioda informed Rusev that the match can only end when someone quits, so unlike a submission match, this one continued. Steel steps, a steel barricade, Cena tackling Rusev through the barricade, Cena using a laptop as a weapon, and Rusev using the pyro table for an explosion all came into play during the match. In the end, Cena ended up using the ring ropes for extra torque on the STF he applied on Rusev. Lana then claimed that Rusev was saying "I Quit" in Bulgarian. As Lana was Rusev's manager, the referee obliged and Cena retained the title. [18]
Next, The Bella Twins (Brie Bella and Nikki Bella) faced Naomi and Tamina. The match ended when Naomi executed the "Rear View" on Nikki to get the win. [18]
In the penultimate match, Neville faced King Barrett. In the end, Barrett was intentionally counted out. Following the match, Barrett attacked Neville, including putting on his royal attire, but Neville gave Barrett a German suplex and performed the "Red Arrow" on him. [18]
In the main event, Seth Rollins defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Randy Orton in a fatal four-way match. During the match, there was a mini-Shield reunion when Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose performed their signature triple powerbomb on Orton through a broadcast table. Rollins then wanted the group to reunite, however Reigns and Ambrose attacked him. Kane interfered to aid Rollins. Reigns and Ambrose executed a powerbomb on Kane on top of Rollins, who was on another broadcast table. Reigns and Ambrose performed another powerbomb on Kane sending both Kane and Rollins through the broadcast table. Ambrose and Reigns then started to wrestle each other. Reigns missed two Superman punches, but finally connected the third one on Ambrose. Reigns performed a spear on Ambrose and made a cover, but Rollins broke up the cover. Ambrose performed "Dirty Deeds" on Rollins and made a cover but Kane pulled Ambrose out of the ring, voiding the pinfall at a two count. Kane attacked Ambrose with the steel steps and performed a chokeslam on Reigns onto the steel steps. Orton executed "RKOs" to both Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury, and performed a spike DDT on Rollins. Orton then prepared for an "RKO", but Kane would try to interfere, only to receive an "RKO". Rollins capitalized and executed a "Pedigree" on Orton to retain the title. [18]
The 2012 Survivor Series was the 26th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on November 18, 2012, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, which was the first Survivor Series held in Indiana. The event received 212,000 pay-per-view buys, down from 281,000 buys the previous year.
The 2013 Extreme Rules was the fifth annual Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on May 19, 2013, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features various hardcore-based matches.
The Shield was a professional wrestling stable in WWE that consisted of Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. Their original characters were mercenaries for CM Punk; however, they quickly became mainstay main-event names. The group debuted on November 18, 2012 at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. The Shield was a dominant force in six-man tag team matches with an undefeated televised streak lasting from December 2012 to May 2013, during which they scored a victory at WrestleMania 29. In May 2013 at Extreme Rules, all three members of The Shield won a championship, with Ambrose winning the United States Championship while Rollins and Reigns captured the WWE Tag Team Championship. Rollins and Reigns were WWE Tag Team Champions until October 2013, and Ambrose was United States Champion until May 2014, which was a record reign for the WWE version of the championship. As a Shield member, Reigns gained prominence by setting and equaling elimination records at the 2013 Survivor Series and the 2014 Royal Rumble events.
The 2014 SummerSlam was the 27th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on August 17, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for the sixth and final consecutive year. This was also the first SummerSlam event to air on WWE's livestreaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in February. It was also the first WWE pay-per-view to incorporate the new WWE logo but it would not be used on air and on the turnbuckle pads until the next night on Raw. This would also be the last WWE pay-per-view to feature the championships with the scratch logo as all were updated with the new logo also on the following night's Raw.
The 2013 Payback was the inaugural Payback professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. The event took place on June 16, 2013, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. It replaced WWE's previously well-known event, No Way Out. The concept of the event was the wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
The 2014 Survivor Series was the 28th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on November 23, 2014, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the first Survivor Series event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The event was notable for the WWE debut appearance of former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) wrestler Sting and also the first Survivor Series since 2001 to not feature a world championship match.
The 2013 Money in the Bank was the fourth annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. The event took place on July 14, 2013, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was final Money in the Bank event to be held in July until the 2021 event.
The 2014 Hell in a Cell was the sixth annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on October 26, 2014, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and was the second Hell in a Cell at this venue after the 2010 event. This was the first Hell in a Cell event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February.
The 2014 Extreme Rules was the sixth annual Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on May 4, 2014, at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and was the first Extreme Rules event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features various hardcore-based matches.
The 2014 Payback was the second annual Payback professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on June 1, 2014, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois for the second consecutive year. This was also the first Payback event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The theme of the event was wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
The 2014 Money in the Bank was the fifth annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on June 29, 2014, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the first Money in the Bank event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February.
The Authority was a villainous professional wrestling stable in WWE, which originated due to Triple H helping Randy Orton win the WWE Championship from Daniel Bryan at the 2013 SummerSlam pay-per-view immediately after cashing in the Money in the Bank contract. The name of "The Authority" was introduced on October 7, 2013 on Monday Night Raw during a match between The Shield vs Cody Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan. Jerry Lawler first said "The Authority" during that match. The Authority initially referred to only Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as a power couple. The Authority shares similarities with The Corporation and The McMahon-Helmsley Faction, and also had ties to Triple H's previous stables D-Generation X (DX) and Evolution, the latter of which existed alongside The Authority for a brief period in 2014.
The 2014 Battleground was the second annual Battleground professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on July 20, 2014, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, and was the first Battleground event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. It was the last WWE pay-per-view event to incorporate the WWE scratch logo, as the following month, WWE rebranded and began using the logo that was originally used for the WWE Network.
WrestleMania 31 was the 31st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Santa Clara, California. Nine matches were contested at the event, including two matches on the Kickoff pre-show.
The 2015 Extreme Rules was the seventh annual Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on April 26, 2015, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, and was the second Extreme Rules event to take place at this venue after the 2012 edition. The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features various hardcore-based matches.
The 2015 Elimination Chamber was the sixth Elimination Chamber professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. The event was livestreamed exclusively on the WWE Network in the United States, marking the first Elimination Chamber to air on the WWE Network, and it was available on PPV in various territories outside the country. It took place on May 31, 2015, at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was the only edition of the event to be held in May; previous and future incarnations have taken place in February. It was also the first event to include a tag team Elimination Chamber match. An Elimination Chamber event was not held in 2016, but it returned in 2017; in turn, it was the last Elimination Chamber event to be held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016 and the last event to feature the original Elimination Chamber structure that was used since 2002.
The 2015 Fastlane was the inaugural Fastlane professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on February 22, 2015, at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. Fastlane replaced Elimination Chamber in the February slot of WWE's PPV event calendar; Elimination Chamber itself was pushed back to May for 2015.
The 2015 SummerSlam was the 28th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on August 23, 2015, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and would be the first of four consecutive SummerSlam events to take place at the arena. It was the first SummerSlam since 2008 to be held outside of Los Angeles as its Staples Center was the exclusive home for SummerSlam from 2009 to 2014. It was also the eighth SummerSlam to be held in the New York metropolitan area. The Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey was originally supposed to host SummerSlam, but due to its closure in April 2015, the event was relocated. It was also the first SummerSlam to be four hours in length, a length previously reserved only for WrestleMania. This was also the last SummerSlam held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016.
The 2015 Money in the Bank was the sixth annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on June 14, 2015, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. It was the first WWE pay-per-view event that was held in Columbus since Bad Blood in June 2004. Money in the Bank was available for free to new subscribers as part of a free-trial to WWE's streaming service, the WWE Network, in over 140 countries.
The 2015 Hell in a Cell was the seventh annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on October 25, 2015, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This was the first WWE pay-per-view, other than SummerSlam, to be held in the city of Los Angeles since No Way Out in February 2007. This was also the last Hell in a Cell event to be held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016.