Ahead of Sunday’s WWE Payback at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, here are some predictions on what to expect from the action.
Roman Reigns to beat AJ Styles to retain the WWE World Heavyweight title
Now, this should be interesting. This will be a good match, with the excellent Styles being paired with Reigns to help give the new champion a strong match.
I have liked the characterisation of Reigns since he won the title at WrestleMania 32. Neither a face or heel, just very confident in himself, with no attempt to force himself down audiences throat as a top babyface.
The intriguing element here is the role Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson will have, given their link to Styles and fact they have attacked Reigns in the build-up.
The swerve here is I think the duo will attack Styles during the match, not out of association to Reigns but for their own agenda and whoever else they are working with.
Reigns will capitalise and take the win, maintaining the darker edge to his character. He has done nothing wrong, but he does not help Styles, and this should serve the purpose of giving him a good start to what should be a long title reign, while keeping Styles strong.
I do not think there will be a reveal on who they are working for on Sunday, as the WWE would be wise to tease that out, though it is no coincidence that Finn Balor has just dropped the NXT title to free himself up in theory to make a move to the main roster.
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Dean Ambrose to beat Chris Jericho
Ambrose, judging by the manner in which he lost to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32, is not going to be world champion anytime soon, no matter how over he is with the crowd.
There was no surprise that he lost to Lesnar, and that was the right result, given the WWE wants the Beast Incarnate kept strong for the inevitable rematch with Reigns that he will likely lose, but for Ambrose to lose so quickly and with little resilience has hurt him.
Jericho is a great foil for him, and since turning heel last month, has really become a force on the roster.
Hopefully this is the start of a long feud, but Ambrose needs a winning start to give himself some fresh momentum.
The Miz to retain the Intercontinental title in a disqualification finish against Cesaro
The Miz is doing a great job as the Intercontinental champion, his heelish antics with his wife Maryse one of the highlights of WWE programming right now.
Cesaro has just come back from injury and he will get the title off the Miz, just not yet as this feud feels like it has only just started.
Expect some nefarious behaviour from The Miz to ensure that he may lose on the night by getting disqualified, but that he leaves with his title still around his waist.
Kevin Owens to beat Sami Zayn
I expect this feud to run all summer between two guys who have a long history together from their days in the independent scene, and most recently when they fought over the NXT title.
This could be match of the evening and I expect Owens to prevail here, with nefarious tactics, to build on Zayn being the underdog to create the situation where when Zayn does pick up thewin it will mean that much more.
Charlotte to retain the WWE Women’s title against Natalya
The WWE have done their best to put over Natalya as a threat to Charlotte, having her pin her in both tag and singles matches in recent weeks.
But Charlotte is going to be champion until at least SummerSlam when a likely rematch with Sasha Banks awaits, and she will win out in a match that should have outside interference with both Ric Flair and Bret Hart due to be at ringside.
Baron Corbin to beat Dolph Ziggler
Corbin has been promoted from NXT after winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, and the WWE has big hopes for him.
Ziggler, whose stock has fallen since he won the World Heavyweight title in 2013, is there to make him look good, and this should be a competitive match that ends with Corbin standing tall.
The Vaudevillains to beat Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady in a tag match to become No 1 contenders for the WWE Tag Team titles
Enzo and Cass have been strongly over with the crowd since debuting the night after WrestleMania 32.
I am not sure the WWE will want them to feud with the New Day just yet, considering the New Day have just turned face and the meeting of these two teams, who are both great in the ring, and superb on the microphones, should be held off.
Expect the Dudleys to interfere, given their past history with Enzo and Cass, to give Vaudevillains the win/
It is a win-win scenario. The Vaudevillains get main event exposure in the tag division, while Enzo and Cass look strong in a feud with the Dudleys, before getting a title shot at SummerSlam.
Ryback to beat Kalisto to win the United States title
This feud has spluttered on since WrestleMania 32 and Ryback badly needs to win here if his attempt at reinventing himself as a frustrated man, taking matters into his own hands, is not to simply be frittered away.
The WWE have done little to develop Kalisto’s character since he first won the championship in January, and a title switch could be good for both men here to move things forward.
WWE Payback will be televised on the WWE Network, which is available through OSN, on Monday morning in the UAE from 4am.
gcaygill@thenational.ae