WWE seems to deliver when expectations are low. Suffice it to say that expectations for Payback were low. It was billed as a RAW exclusive show but featured multiple matches with SmackDown competitors. As its name more than implies, it was pretty much all rematches. But yet, the show delivered. With the exception of the House of Horrors match, everything left us wanting more on RAW and SmackDown Live.

The follow-up shows did their part to deliver, as well. The primary championships on each show are gone for the moment, but it’s given the midcard titles an opportunity to shine. And shine they have. Lots of fun feuds, ridiculous segments, and brutality went down in the last few days of WWE. Can’t ask for much more.

Featuring: Joshua Schlag (@thesteelcage / @schlizzag), ‘The Mayor of Reseda’ Derek (@cap_kaveman), and ‘Hot Podcast Garbage’ Sprung (@jasprung).

Music by The Black Furies, courtesy of Music Alley.

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Joshua Schlag

For most of the last 30+ years of my life, I've been watching WWE. As a kid, Monday Night Raw hooked me from the start. From Bret Hart and Razor Ramon, to Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, to CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.. I've witnessed the ups and downs and I'm proud to have enjoyed pro wrestling through the years.

Though I now watch in a much different fashion than I did when I was a kid (finding out Vince McMahon was the owner and Jack Tunney no more than a figurehead was like finding out Santa Claus did not exist), I feel like I have a much greater appreciation for the hard work pro wrestlers do and the things they sacrifice to entertain us.

It's still real to me, dammit!