Payback 2015 Payback 2015 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by WWE which took place on May 17 , 2015 at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore , Maryland . It was the 3rd annual Payback event . The theme songs for the event are : " Friction " by Imagine Dragons and " Payback " by Juicy J , Kevin Gates , Future and Sage the Gemini . Background . Payback featured professional wrestling matches that involved wrestlers from pre - existing feuds , plots , and storylines that played out on WWE ' s primary television programs . Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches . At WrestleMania 31 , John Cena defeated Rusev to win the United States Championship . Following a rematch at Extreme Rules , Cena retained the title by defeating Rusev in a Russian Chain match . Later in the event , after visiting The Authority , Lana announced that Cena would defend the title against Rusev in an " I Quit " match at the event . At Extreme Rules , Seth Rollins defeated Randy Orton in a Steel Cage match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship . On the April 27 episode of " Raw " , after Orton and Roman Reigns defeated Rollins and Kane , it was announced , by vote on the WWE App , that Rollins would defend the title against Orton and Reigns in a Triple Threat match at the event . On the May 4 episode of " Raw " , Dean Ambrose defeated Rollins , and per match stipulation , he was added to the match , thus making the match a Fatal Four Way . On the May 11 episode of " Raw " , Triple H announced that if Rollins loses the title , Kane will no longer be the WWE Director of Operations . On the Extreme Rules pre - show , Neville defeated Bad News Barrett . On April 28 , Barrett defeated Neville to win the King of the Ring tournament and adopted the ring name King Barrett . On the May 7 episode of " SmackDown " , Neville and Dolph Ziggler defeated Barrett and Sheamus . On the May 11 episode of " Raw " , it was announced that Barrett would face Neville at the event . At Extreme Rules , Ziggler defeated Sheamus in a Kiss Me Arse match . On the May 7 episode of " SmackDown " , Ziggler and Neville defeated Sheamus and Barrett . On the May 11 episode of " Raw " , it was announced that Ziggler would face Sheamus at the event . At Extreme Rules , The New Day defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship . On the April 30 episode of " SmackDown " , Kidd and Cesaro defeated The New Day by disqualification in a rematch for the titles . On the May 11 episode of " Raw " , it was announced that The New Day would defend the titles against Kidd and Cesaro in a 2 - out - of - 3 Falls Tag Team match at the event . On the May 11 episode of " Raw " , during a match between Curtis Axel and Damien Sandow , in the guise of Macho Mandow , The Ascension attacked Axel and Mandow . It was then announced that Axel and Sandow would face The Ascension on the Payback pre - show . On the April 27 episode of " Raw " , Bray Wyatt attacked Ryback after Ryback defeated Bo Dallas , having sent messages to Ryback weeks prior . On the April 30 episode of SmackDown , Wyatt attacked Ryback after Ryback defeated Luke Harper . On the May 11 episode of Raw , Ryback attacked Wyatt . On May 13 , it was announced on WWE . com that Ryback would face Wyatt at the event . At Extreme Rules , Nikki Bella defeated Naomi to retain the Divas Championship . On the May 4 edition of Raw , Naomi and the returning Tamina Snuka attacked Nikki and Brie Bella . On the May 11 episode of Raw , Tamina defeated Brie . On the May 14 episode of SmackDown , it was announced that Tamina and Naomi would face The Bella Twins at the event .