WWE Payback Predictions - Part 1

Damien Sandow vs. Sheamus (Pre-show): For the first time in quite a while, Sheamus is technically left off the pay-per-view, and has instead been relegated to the WWE.com pre-match. That’s unfortunate, especially when you consider that WWE has actually taken a considerable amount of time to build this match up. While Sandow deserves the win and could use it to help elevate his singles career (he is considered a pet project of Triple H, partially due to being a fellow Killer Kowalksi graduate), WWE doesn’t quite seem to know what to do with him at the moment. Meanwhile, Sheamus rarely loses on PPV, so I expect him to pull off the victory here.

WWE Divas Championship-Kaitlyn (Champion) vs. AJ Lee: This has the potential to be a really good match, and I’m looking forward to seeing it. Both divas have improved drastically since debuting, and they both take wrestling very seriously. While Kaitlyn could use a longer title reign, AJ is the most over diva in WWE right now, and there has been talk of her holding the Divas title while on-screen boyfriend Dolph Ziggler is World Champion. They may wait another month to make the switch, but I’m going the safe route and picking AJ as the winner.

WWE United States Championship-Dean Ambrose (Champion) vs. Kane: Honestly, this match feels thrown together and done specifically to get Ambrose booked for the PPV. The Shield are the hottest thing in WWE right now, and while Kane earned this title match with a win over Ambrose, it was a DQ win. Plus, Ambrose has already defeated Kane in singles competition previously, so this is nothing new. Ambrose won’t be losing the US title any time soon, and certainly not to Kane, whose role is now mainly to help younger guys get established.

Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship-Curtis Axel vs. Wade Barrett (Champion) vs. The Miz: Axel’s spot was originally for Fandango, but he was injured. At the last minute, Axel was added, mainly to continue establishing him as a top heel in the company. Despite his talent and promise, WWE seems to have given up on Barrett, and Miz is a complete joke. The fans are not buying him as a face at all, and I do not understand why he has gotten a championship match nearly every PPV since Survivor Series. Although Axel was a last minute sub, I fully expect him to become the new champion. Winning the IC title is only going to help continue to build him as a threat as a heel, as well as help make him believable as a “Paul Heyman Guy”.