Payback (2019)

The logo for Payback (2019)

**Payback (2019)** was a professional wrestling pay per view produced by War Hawks Entertainment Inc. for their Raw brand. It took take place Sunday, April 14, 2019, from the Lanxess Arena in Frankfurt, Germany. It is the first event in the WHEI Payback chronology and will be the first Raw exclusive pay per view of season 4. It will also be the first pay per view of season 4 overall.

In the main event, Randy Orton '13 defeated Kevin Owens to win the WHEI Universal Championship.

Elsewhere on the card Nikki Bella defeated Madison Rayne to win the WHEI Raw Women's Championship and Killian Dain defeated Seth Rollins to win the WHEI European Championship. Bringing both titles back to Raw after the champions were drafted to different shows during the draft.

## Background

The card consisted of matches resulting from scripted storylines that played out on WHEI's Raw brand. Storylines played out on the War Hawks' weekly show on Twitch *Monday Night Raw*. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters as they built tension that leads to a match or series of matches heading into the event.

Payback, as the name implies, is meant to be Raw's WrestleMania revenge pay per view. As such the card will usual feature rematches from WrestleMania provided the some of them aren't drafted to other shows in the draft.

The primary feud heading into the event was between Randy Orton '13 and Kevin Owens with the two feuding over the WHEI Universal Championship. At WrestleMania, Royal Rumble winner Drew McIntyre defeated Tommasso Ciampa to win the championship. However the night before during the 2019 WHEI Draft he was drafted to NXT. This left Raw without a champion. So Co-General Managers Juggernaut and Guardian set up a 16 Man Tournament to crown a new champion. During the course of the tournament Orton advanced to the finals by defeating R-Truth, Juggernaut, and Incubex to advance to the finals while Owens defeated Randy Savage, The Rock '01, and Bobby Lashley to advance.

Another feud heading into the event was between Edge and Sting '91 with the two feuding over the WHEI Intercontinental Championship. At WrestleMania, Edge defeated Samoa Joe to retain the championship and carry it with him to Raw in Season 4. The next night on Raw, a #1 Contender Match was set up to determine who would face him at Payback, as Joe had not been drafted yet. The next night on Raw, it was announced there would be two Triple Threat Matches, with the winners facing each other next week to determine the #1 Contender. Bryan won the first Triple Threat by defeating Eric Young and Christian. Sting won the second by defeating Kevin Owens and Nic Nitro. The following week, Sting defeated Bryan to earn a title shot at Payback.

Another feud heading into the event was between The Guerrillas Of Destiny and DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa) with the two teams feuding over the WHEI Raw Tag Team Championship. As the championship was not defended at WrestleMania, the champions were allowed to keep the championship. However as they had not been drafted yet it was unclear if they would continue to be the champions or have to vacate when drafted to another show. As they were undrafted as of yet, the two continued to appear on every show to cause havoc. They did promise to defend the titles at Payback however. On the Raw after WrestleMania, The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper & Rowan) took on #DIY to for the right to challenge them at the pay per view. That night, #DIY defeated the Bludgeon Brothers to earn the right to challenge G.O.D at the pay per view. G.O.D were subsequently drafted to Raw, thus securing the title's place on the brand either way. On the go home show before Payback, GOD defeated SAnitY (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) in tag team action and had a staredown with the challengers after.

Another feud heading into the event was between Maidson Rayne and Nikki Bella with the two feuding over the WHEI Raw Women's Championship. At WrestleMania, Rayne defeated Nikki Bella to win the championship, much like the Guerrilas Of Destiny, she has yet to be drafted. Bella, who WAS drafted to Raw promised to address the situation the next night on Raw. On Raw, Bella came out and claimed that since Rayne wasn't drafted yet, she should just be given the title back. When Juggernaut disagreed with her, she interrupted a #1 Contenders match between former LWL Leading Lady Champion Ember Moon and Ruby Riott by attacking both women. This led to Juggernaut announcing she would get her rematch for the title at Payback. Later during the draft, Rayne was drafted to NXT, thus putting the future of the title in jeapordy.

Another feud heading into the event was between Seth Rollins and Killian Dain with the two feuding over the WHEI European Championship. As the championship was not defended at WrestleMania, Rollins was allowed to take the championship with him into season 4. However, he was drafted to SmackDown in the draft, and would take the championship with him. He promised to defend the title against any Raw superstar at Payback, with the stipulation that if he won, he took the title with him. Juggernaut agreed to this on the condition that should Rollins win and take the European Championship to SmackDown, Raw would receive the Hardcore Championship, SmackDown's equivalent championship, in return. Ironman agreed and the match was set. On Raw after WrestleMania, Juggernaut set up a Fatal 5 Way Match to determine who would face Rollins at the pay per view between Killian Dain, Chris Jericho '10, Big Show, Luke Harper '14, and Sheamus. The match was won by Killian Dain who vowed to bring the title back to Raw.

Another feud heading into the event is between Incubex and Triple H '14. On the Raw after WrestleMania, Incubex faced Randy Orton in the main event. Triple H and Batista were at ringside for the match despite the former being on LWL and the latter not being drafted yet. The next week during the Universal Championship tournament rematch between the two, Triple H interfered. This allowed Orton to win the match and sparked a rivalry between Evolution (Triple H, Orton, and Ric Flair) and Incubex's War Hawks Division (himself & Juggernaut).

The final feud heading into the event was between Juggernaut and Ric Flair. Juggernaut knew Flair would interfere in Evolution's other two matches so scheduled himself in a match to make sure that wouldn't happen.

## Event

### Preliminary Matches

The pay per view opened with Ric Flair taking on Raw Co-General Manager Juggernaut. Flair put forth a valiant effort, but in the end Juggernaut hit a Burning Hammer to win the match.

Next was a match to decide the fate of the WHEI European Championship between Champion Seth Rollins and Killian Dain. Where if Rollins won the championship would be transfered to SmackDown and Raw would receive the WHEI Hardcore Championship. During the entire match Rollins got in barely any offense, and only in short busts. Despite hitting the *Avada Kadavra*, Rollins wasn't able to put the challenger away as Dain hit a third Electric Chair Driver to win the match and the championship. This brought the title back to Raw and kept the Hardcore Championship on SmackDown.

After that was a match for the WHEI Intercontinental Championship with Edge defending against Sting '91. Despite Sting's best efforts, he was simply no match for the champion, as Edge hit two consecutive Spears to win the match and retain the championship.

Then was a match between Incubex and Triple H '14. In a shockingly quick upset, Triple H managed to roll up the on fire Incubex and pick up the quick win. After the match Triple H laughed at Incubex on the ramp while Juggernaut assured Incubex he would receive a rematch the next night on Raw.

Following that was a match for the WHEI Raw Tag Team Championship with DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa) challenging The Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa). After a great back and forth tag team match between all four men DIY disposed of Loa and hit Tonga with a Meet In The Middle (Knee Smash/Superkick combination) and Ciampa pinned him to win the match and the championship for his team.

The penultimate match was a WrestleMania rematch for the WHEI Raw Women's Championship between Madison Rayne and Nikki Bella. After a nice back and forth match with the champion putting in a decent effort, Nikki proved too much for her. In the end she hit a Rack Attack 2.0 to win the match and the Raw Women's Championship for the second time. This also brought the championship back to Raw as Rayne had been drafted to NXT during the draft.

### Main Event

The main event was a tournament final for the vacant WHEI Universal Championship between Randy Orton '13 and Kevin Owens. Despite a VERY tough opposition from Owens and a moment early on where it seemed like he had the match won, Orton was just too much for him. Orton hit an RKO to win the match and the championship.

## Results

### Universal Championship Tournament

 Randy Orton '13 vs. R-Truth
 Tye Dillinger vs. Bobby Lashley
 The Rock '01 vs. Tatanka
 Kevin Owens vs. Randy Savage