WWE Payback 2017 Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades

credit: wwe.com

WWE United States Championship Match
Kevin Owens (c) vs. Chris Jericho

Result: Chris Jericho defeats Kevin Owens via pinfall to win the WWE United States Championship.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

The SAP Center loved Jericho from the start. He got a huge ovation to kick off the show, which is fitting as it may be the last time we see him for a while.

They’re taking the Face of America thing to another level, going with the red, white and blue “KO” logo for Owens. It’s worked well, so far, on SmackDown Live.

Owens vs. Jericho begins the theme of rematches for WWE Payback. It’s full of them from top to bottom, with few in between being something fresh (Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss, Hardys vs. Cesaro and Sheamus). This isn’t the worst thing, but it doesn’t provide a fresh look for a show that doesn’t have much hype around it.

A great bit of continuity with Owens using his finger break of a submission hold. This led to Jericho being enraged, slamming Owens’ finger in between the ring steps. It bit Owens at the end of the match, and he tapped out to give Y2J the win.

Maybe Jericho isn’t going away yet? He’s going to be a champion on SmackDown Live, adding a new face to the upper midcard scene. Still, it’s surprising to see this after it was assumed he was going away to tour with Fozzy. If that changed, or if Jericho is able to balance both, then we may see more of him in 2017.

As for the former NXT Champion, his reign as U.S. Champion ends after just a few weeks. It’s odd, after all that had been put into him being the “Face of America.” Is that going to continue? I think it will, and we’ll get some shenanigans on SmackDown Live.