What was WWE Payback 2017’s Best Match?
By Charles Daye
Payback 2017 had some very memorable moments, both good and bad, but what match stole the show?
Payback 2017 was a Raw brand pay-per-view but thanks to the Superstar Shakeup it featured two interbrand matches. Raw should be thankful that neither of those matches, the United States Championship or the House of Horrors stole the show.
In fact, it was Sheamus & Cesaro vs The Hardy Boys that felt like the highlight of the night in San Jose. When it was all said and done it was the Raw Tag Team Championship match that had the proper build, match and payoff.
Going into the PPV both teams had shown mutual respect for one another. Sheamus faced off against Matt Hardy and Cesaro went one-on-one against Jeff Hardy to build toward this contest and both matches ended with both teams shaking hands.
When the two teams met last night, it was a hard-hitting tag team clinic and that’s not being hyperbolic. The Celtic Warrior literally kicked a tooth out of Brother Nero’s mouth.
While Sheamus and Cesaro were attempting to use their strength and brute force to win back the tag belts. The Hardy Boys were seemingly more tactical, both Jeff and Matt attempted to work over Cesaro’s (untapped) shoulder while preventing the hot-tag to Sheamus. Spoiler, there is no stopping uppercuts from Swiss Superman.
The King of Swing lived up to his name and gave the Broken One 20 swings into a sharpshooter, which led to Brother Nero pushing the bottom rope toward his brother to allow the break. This was indicative to how the Hardys would retain the titles.
The veteran tag team seemingly had more in-ring awareness; they were always there to break up the near-fall or submission right at the last minute. So when Sheamus went for a pin on Matt and didn’t realize Jeff had tagged in. This allowed the Charismatic Enigma to hit the Swanton Bomb for the pin in just under 13 minutes.
Following the match, once again Sheamus & Cesaro shook the hands of the Hardy Boys. However, it would be the last time. Swiss Superman and Celtic Warrior returned to the ring to attack the champions as they celebrated their victory. The two European superstars proceeded to assault the brothers, who now may, in fact, be broken after being beaten up, bloodied and brogue-kicked.
This heel-turn felt effective, it did not feel like they did it just for crowd heat but because they were legitimately angry at the outcome. The two men looked ridiculously dominant as they beat them down, then they took the tag belts and mimicked the champion’s celebration before posing for the crowd who cheered “delete” and “obsolete” throughout the match. Sheamus & Cesaro (literally) dropped the belts on the champs before walking out.
This match was entertaining from bell to bell and it never slowed down. More importantly, it was one of the only matches that made you feel like you need to watch Raw to see what happens next. This match has replay value and thankfully this feud seems far from over.
Honorable mention/runner-up for best match at Payback 2017 is Seth Rollins vs Samoa Joe. If it was not for this tag match, that singles contest between the Kingslayer and the Samoan Submission Machine would have definitely been the match of the night. It was a great match with very good psychology.