Payback Predictions

Hello! It's the first of 2 "PPVs" this month- and of course that means two sets of Predictions. Anyway, we're headed into Payback with pretty much no tangible momentum- I'm not going to go another "Why WWE's Free Month=Bad Month" strategy if you want it you can go back to my Extreme Rules Predictions- because WWE has basically shafted the people who subscribed for Mania by giving out two free months pretty much the day after Mania. It's not worth getting into a rant about that either I suppose, but anyway- let's just get right into the Predictions.

Also quickly before I start- if you come here for all of my Wrestling Posts you'll have noticed the lack of an Impact Review yesterday. In short I was at the Rugby 7s yesterday- I got back at about 6pm and proceeded to watch pretty much everything except the Impact from Friday- anyway all I can say is I'm sorry for being such an idiot and the Reviews'll be back next week or you have permission to kill me. LET'S GET PREDICTIN'!

Pre-Show: The Meta Powers v The Ascension
This is a weird one, The Meta Powers basically being an extension of what Axel's been doing since the Rumble should by all right mean that they're going to lose tonight. After all that's pretty much the whole gimmick and part of why it's entertaining in all honesty. However, they're up against The Ascension who's gimmick is also seemingly losing at every opportunity- so it's basically who's less likely to lose as opposed to who's going to win- and purely because of the old "Babyface wins on Pre-Show" strategy...
Less Likely to Lose: The Meta Powers

King Barrett v Neville
For me this is one of the more straightforward of the matches on the card for tonight. The dynamic between Neville, Barrett and then Sheamus and Ziggler with them coming together a lot and trading wins left and right has been an interesting one- and the more I think about it this isn't as straightforward as I first thought. Neville won at Extreme Rules- but of course Barrett won at the KOTR event which could be perceived as a special event. However with "PPV" in it's purest form- and "PPV" wins being the main currency I have to say
Winner: King Barrett

Sheamus v Dolph Ziggler
Speaking of the current dynamic with Barrett and Neville- this is pretty much the other half of the dynamic and it almost goes without saying that these 4 will be in  of the 6 spots for the IC Title in the Elimination Chamber in a few weeks. It's for that IC Title Elimination Chamber reason that I'm not really sure about this match. If the rumours are true- and it would seem they are and Sheamus is going to be the IC Champion as he's apparently been advertised as such then it would make sense for him to win and "look strong" headed into the Elimination Chamber- and for me if he loses his first two PPV matches back since his return it kills him. However because of the way he was booked at Extreme Rules the Babyface still needs to make the heel get his comeuppance. However as we saw at Extreme Rules the winner of the match doesn't necessarily mean the winner stands tall so...
Winner: Sheamus

Taomi v The Bellas
I Genuinely have no clue for this match, on the one hand you can make the argument that with the Naomi turn etc. that it's a no-brainer that Naomi & Tamina will win. But, The Bellas are- well The Bellas and Naomi already lost her first "big" match as a Heel. However, I think Naomi & Tamina will win the match for one important reason- the match means absolutely nothing. The Belt isn't up for grabs- and this match wouldn't look out of place on Superstars in all honesty- and it's for that reason...
Winner: Taomi

New Day v KiddSaro- 2 out of 3 Falls
I don't know if it's that bold of a prediction to say this match will steal the show (again). The current dynamic with these two teams reminds me a lot of when the Rhodes Brothers first got in and around the Tag Titles and the Wyatts v The Usos in that they consistently stole the show no matter who else was on the card. The stipulation for me makes it almost a lock for this match to steal the show and provided they don't try and rush the match from a time-frame perspective then it'll be great- and for me the stipulation all but confirms that time constraints is a non-issue. It's pretty clear when it comes to the outcome of this match who's going to win- and I'm not going to make the mistake of basically convincing myself that New Day would win only to say KiddSaro again in my Predictions.
Winner: New Day

Ryback v Bray Wyatt
For me this match could go either way and it basically depends on whether this is going to be a One Deal match or a series primarily to keep Bray busy until he's needed for Summerslam. As such this may not be as easy to predict as you would think at first glance. I don't know exactly how they're going to do it but I really am leaning towards Ryback- especially with Elimination Chamber in such a short amount of time after and them needing matches to pack the card out it would make no sense for Bray to win and "be done" with Ryback already- and I can see Ryback winning tonight- Bray at Elimination Chamber with Bray also winning the "rubber" match at Battleground next month before we get into the Summerslam build which hopefully means another big match for Bray.
Winner: Ryback

Rusev v John Cena- "I Quit" Match
This is where some of you will think I've gone off the deep-end, and perhaps rightfully so come around 3:30. I genuinely think Rusev will win, but it's not going to be through his strength or general dominance- if you follow me on Twitter you might already know what I'm going to discuss/pitch now- but if you aren't be prepared to have your whole view on this Match/PPV changed. For me the tease of tension between Lana and Rusev has been too obvious for where they're going- it might be me giving WWE too much credit- but this is genuinely what I think will happen. They'll have the usual back and forth match which'll be all well and good but the crescendo to the match will be Rusev somehow trapping Cena with Handcuffs most likely (or Duct Tape!) and realising that Cena will "Never Give Up" on a physical level he turns his attentions to Lana. She's going to look petrified- Rusev grabs a mic and says he'll Crush Lana unless Cena Quits. Rusev holds the Mic to Cena he says "No" but is clearly torn. They go one step further and have Rusev push Lana down and then get in the position for the Accolade which'll be right in front of Cena who'll be handcuffed in a corner so Lana's staring directly at Cena and she's looking petrified. Just as Rusev is about to lock it in Cena Quits. Rusev starts celebrating- Lana gets up, and starts laughing; she then goes over to Cena in the Corner and laughs in his face before slapping him and going over to raise Rusev's hand. For me it doesn't make sense for there to be another match after Cena won the 3rd Match of their series unless they're going to do something like this- and it's for that reason...
Winner: Rusev

I know there could be the "Violence against Women" heat- but Lana being in on the whole thing squashes that angle completely in my opinion.

Seth Rollins v Roman Reigns v Randy Orton v Dean Ambrose- WWEWHC Match
It's the Main Event- and pretty much in keeping with the whole build for the match it's painfully predictable in that Rollins will win. However how Rollins wins is another matter. I've seen various ideas banded around whether it's Ambrose turning, The Shield reuniting as a Heel Faction and even one bizarrely where Kane inserts himself into the match and takes the pin for Rollins while everyone is down. I'll filter it down to two, one that I think- and one that I want to happen. The one I want to happen is for Roman to turn. For me ( and not because of relation) Roman is pretty much Rocky Maivia- there's a section of the audience who'll never buy into this incarnation of Roman Reigns and it won't surprise me if we start getting "DIE. ROMAN. DIE" chants soon. For me the obvious solution for this is to turn him- as they did with The Rock. I realise I am among this category by "smarks" always like to cheer the person who isn't supposed to cheered- we're just weird that way 99% of the time. So turning Roman will pretty much instantly get the section who refuse to cheer Roman onto Roman's side- and for me everything about Roman screams heel anyway. Anyway Roman turning to help Rollins is what I want to happen- but what I think will happen is Ambrose joining the Dark Side which won't have as much of an effect in my opinion. Either way Rollins wins.
Winner: Seth Rollins

I know some of these Predictions may be against the grain- but I hope I've put my case forward enough for you to at least know where I'm coming from in these predictions.

Thanks for reading as ever, this is 1 of 2 Prediction Blogs there'll be this Month- which is fun for me I suppose means I get to put over more of my ideas; speaking of which if you haven't already I'd recommend reading my "Adam Rose to Leo Kruger" blog I put up on Friday- without wanting to big myself up I think it's a cohesive 3 Months build and worth a read. Anyway, as always stay tuned for the Review tomorrow; and let's all come back to this at 4:01 and laugh at how wrong I was.