Photos from WWE Payback

I was at WWE Payback last week and I got some exclusive photos that I want to share (photos get bigger when you click on them).  

WWE Payback Preview

It's Pay-Per-View Sunday and WWE Payback happens tonight at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. I am previewing all 8 matches here including the Kickoff to Payback (or is it "Payback Kickoff" now) match.

WWE Payback: Ranking the 8 matches on the PPV

The WWE Payback Pay-Per-View has 8 matches right now (I don't expect any surprise matches) and I'm going to rank them here. They will be ranked in the order of how much I think I will enjoy the match and not how good I expect the match to be. This ranking is based of my opinion and I don't expect everyone to agree with my ranking. This is not a predictions/preview column. I will post that on Sunday most likely.

WWE Payback News: The full match card for the PPV

Copied from 411mania.com,

Kick-off to Payback: Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow
Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk 
Divas Title Match: Kaitlyn © vs. AJ 
US Title Match: Dean Ambrose © vs. Kane 
Tag Team Title Match: Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns © vs. Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton 
WWE IC Title Match: Wade Barrett © vs. The Miz vs. Curtis Axel 
World Title Match: Dolph Ziggler © vs. Alberto Del Rio
Three Stages of Hell WWE Title Match: John Cena © vs. Ryback

For more information, go to http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwe-payback. 

More news:

• Watch the first Punk vs. Jericho Chicago match (not Extreme Rules...before that) at http://www.wwe.com/videos/cm-punk-vs-chris-jericho-raw-aug-18-2008-full-length-match-26121413.
• I will post two columns at the end of the week. The first one will rank each match on the card and the second is my official preview of Payback.

WWE Payback News: Pre-show match is announced

According to WWE.com,

"This Sunday, June 16, The Celtic Warrior battles “The Duke of Decency” in a collision of medieval nicknames worthy of “Game of Thrones.” Tune in to the free Kickoff to Payback when it streams live at 7:30 ET/4:30 PT to see heated rivals Sheamus and Damien Sandow settle their differences inside the squared circle!"

WWE.com says that the pre-show match streams live on WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, Samsung SMART TVs, Google+, Pinterest, Pheed and Xbox 360. WWE is calling the show "Kickoff to Payback".

I think this is a great pre-show match. It might have been a good Pay-Per-View match, but I wasn't expecting it to be a great PPV match. This is a match people will probably want to watch for free and it might convince some viewers to buy the PPV. 

WWE Payback News: Randy Orton and Michael Cole comment about Punk-Jericho and Chicago

Here are some quotes I found from Randy Orton and Michael Cole.

Orton:

"One thing’s for sure, [Payback's] in Chicago and that Allstate Arena is one of the best places to have a fight in. That crowd is awesome. CM Punk being a Chicago native, he’s going against (Chris) Jericho. That should be interesting. That’s a rematch from a few Wrestlemanias ago. They had a good one then. So, that should probably be the marque match. But Payback will definitely be a good production you won’t want to miss."

Cole:

"I am getting excited for our brand new Pay per View known as "Payback" in the great wresting town of Chicago on Sunday Night June 16th. The All State Arena is one of the best venues we play. The WWE Championship match of John Cena versus Ryback in a 3 stages of Hell match will be intriguing, especially the way Ryback is coming around as a performer. My personal favorite however will be Chris Jericho versus CM Punk and I expect it to be the match of the night. Two of the all-time greats with such an awesome story to tell. Punk returning to the ring in his hometown for his first match since the incredible bout with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Jericho with a score to settle with Punk after last year's great rivalry. This is going to be so great and I have the absolute honor and privilege to sit at ringside and call all the action. It is the opportunity to call bouts like these that we bust our rear ends all year!"

Sources:
http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2013/06/05/wwes-randy-orton-on-12-rounds-reloaded-and-wwe-payback/
http://www.layfieldreport.com/Michael-Cole-on-live-radio-show.news

Fans have been making predictions that Punk vs. Jericho won't happen, but after reading what Orton and Cole said, I think the match is going to happen. Many people are expecting it to be the best match of the night and it makes no sense why WWE would not have that match at Payback.

WWE Payback News: A fourth main event may be added to Payback and other news

Payback has two main event matches right now. Cena vs. Ryback is one and the other is Punk vs. Jericho. The third main event match will mostly likely be Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. Most "B" Pay-Per-Views have three main event matches, but I'm reading that there could be another big match.

Main event match #4 could be.....

WWE Payback News: Ziggler cleared

According to The Wrestling Observer,

"Dolph Ziggler passed his imPact testing yesterday and has been cleared going forward. This will likely add Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio for the world title to the 6/16 Payback PPV show."

And other news:

WWE has officially announced The Miz vs. Fandango vs. Wade Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship will happen at Payback.

WWE Payback News: The official theme song is announced

The official theme song of WWE Payback is Hollywood Undead's "Another Way Out".

WWE Payback News: Dolph Ziggler returns

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler made an appearance at a WWE house show in Bethlehem, PA. Ziggler is not cleared to compete yet, but returning to a WWE event is good and I think it means he is close to an in-ring return.