WWE Payback 2013 Results: Power Ranking the Most Thrilling Matches

The WWE's Payback pay-per-view doesn't carry a lot of hype, but it certainly produced. This was an entertaining night of action that featured a little of everything. 

The Chicago crowd was fired up, championships changed hands, and CM Punk came back to action with a fabulous showing to bring the house down. 

Check out the results, and then I'll rank the three best matches from the night. 

Quick Results

Note: (c) denotes champion before the match

Pre-show: Sheamus defeats Damien Sandow

Intercontinental Championship: Curtis Axel defeats Wade Barrett (c) and The Miz

Divas Championship: AJ Lee defeats Kaitlyn (c)

United States Championship: Dean Ambrose (c) defeats Kane via count out

World Heavyweight Championship: Alberto Del Rio defeats Dolph Ziggler (c)

CM Punk defeats Chris Jericho

Tag Team Championship: Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns (c) defeat Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton

WWE Championship: John Cena beats Ryback by winning Tables Match and Ambulance Match

No. 3: Alberto Del Rio defeats Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler's run as the world heavyweight champion has come to an unceremonious end. He was battered by former champ Albert Del Rio.

This was a fitting way for his title run to end, since it was hard to tell he was even champion. He suffered a concussion before Extreme Rules and had been idle.

However, that storyline was milked in this match in a way that makes it clear we haven't seen the last of these two battling in the ring.

The Mexican Aristocrat continually attacked Ziggler's recently concussed head. And through it all, Ziggler kept battling and provided a great match. 

This would certainly seem to mark Del Rio turning heel and Ziggler to face. 

It was disappointing to see Ziggler lose, but all of this sets up for some good storylines in the future. 

No. 2: John Cena beats Ryback by winning Tables Match and Ambulance Match

This match provided a predictable result, but it was fun to watch. 

The first quickly delved into chaos when Ryback slapped Antonio Cesaro. Soon after that, Cena was flying from the top rope to knock over a giant pile of lumberjacks. 

Ryback eventually took the first match, but Cena battled back by taking the next two. 

The action went back-and-forth from outside to inside the ring. Stairs were brought in, the wrestlers were thrown toward tables, and eventually the two were beating on each other with crutches and pieces of the ambulance. That prompted this excellent tweet by the WWE's Joey Styles: 

In the end, Cena came out looking strong, and Ryback was tough in defeat. It all provided for a match more entertaining than I expected. 

No. 1: CM Punk defeats Chris Jericho

After a month layoff, CM Punk made an anticipated return and did so in front of his hometown fans. 

As you can imagine, expectations were on high for this match, and Jericho and Punk did not disappoint. Both of these guys are well-rounded wrestlers with the ability to excite with their technical prowess. 

While this match lacked the storyline development of the other two, it didn't need it. This one produced in the ring. 

For 21 minutes, these two battled through an array of attacks and near-falls. Both had the upper hand at different times, and the crowd rocked throughout. 

It was no surprise to see Punk victorious, but it also wouldn't be a surprise to see these two battle again soon in the near future. And that is something every WWE fan should look forward to.