WWE Payback 2016: Full Card Predictions After WrestleMania 32

WWE Payback 2016 will lean heavily on rivalries reprised—some born from WrestleMania 32, some born well before that.

Kalisto will have to fend off Ryback at least once more. John Cena, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens will all face familiar adversaries. 

Now that all of WrestleMania 32's fireworks have been shot, it's time for several marquee names to step away from center stage. Shane McMahon, Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Triple H are among those likely to take a step back as WWE's calendar cools off. Expect many of them back ahead of SummerSlam, but during WWE's two May pay-per-views, it will be up to Roman Reigns and company to carry the load.

Reading into WrestleMania's results, analyzing storyline arcs and weighing potential booking options help piece together what the Payback card will look like. 

Zack Ryder vs. Chris Jericho (Intercontinental Championship)

Zack Ryder and Chris Jericho both earned surprise wins at WrestleMania. Ryder took the Intercontinental Championship despite being an afterthought for so many months. In Jericho's bout against AJ Styles, the general assumption was that Y2J would lie down for the newcomer as he did against Fandango at WrestleMania 29.

Jericho's win makes him an instant contender for the IC crown. His long history with that title makes it more likely WWE will have him chase after it.

In addition, these two collided just days before WrestleMania. On the go-home edition of Raw, Ryder stunned Jericho in a rare win. That can easily be the catalyst for a rivalry between these two, with the veteran seeking to dethrone the underdog champion. 

WWE can book this bout with confidence, too, knowing Jericho will help lead Ryder to a strong showing come Payback.

Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks (Women's Championship)

Sasha Banks' championship dreams aren't through. She seemed poised to capture the resurrected Women's Championship from Charlotte at WrestleMania, but Ric Flair played blockade, held Banks outside the ring and allowed his daughter to take home the gold.

Banks, Becky Lynch and Charlotte put on a stellar showing to usher in what is now known as the women's division. Expect WWE to take advantage of that momentum by putting two of the division's biggest names in the ring together at Payback.

By having Banks not take a pin or tap out, it suggests she should be next in line to challenge Charlotte. WWE wouldn't have to draw up a new narrative, either; it could just extend the current one but zero in on Banks and Charlotte.

The New Day vs. Bullet Club (Tag Team Championship)

The tag team division needs new blood. The League of Nations isn't clicking. The New Day have suffered from a lack of quality rivals.

Rather than have The Dudley Boyz or The Usos go after the champs again post-WrestleMania, expect WWE to bring in Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, formerly of New Japan Pro Wrestling. It's a move that has been rumored all year. Those rumors are poised to become reality. 

PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson reported last week, "The pair were expected to debut on the main WWE roster, bypassing NXT, in late March/early April. It appears their debut is imminent."

Adding them would give the division a spark.

The strong heel duo would also be a way to give AJ Styles something to do. Styles was the leader of the Bullet Club before making his move to WWE. Having him join forces with Gallows and Anderson would suddenly give him momentum despite his WrestleMania loss to Chris Jericho. 

Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

The match many hoped for at WrestleMania looks to be on its way at Payback.

During the Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' bad blood overflowed early. The two rivals slugged it out, seemingly forgetting all the other foes in the match existed. Zayn assured Owens would lose the title by crashing the bruiser's head into a ladder.

That will be plenty to have Owens seething in the coming weeks. 

Owens could be on the hunt for Zack Ryder to reclaim his IC title, but his feud with Zayn is a better story. Those two were clawing at each other before they reached WWE. And more recently, Owens betrayed Zayn en route to seizing the NXT Championship from him.

This should be something WWE holds off on until SummerSlam, but the wheels already appear to be in motion.

Owens is sure to want Zayn's head after what happened at WrestleMania. At Payback, the next part of their never-ending war will continue.

Ryback vs. Kalisto (United States Championship)

With a somewhat fluky finish, Kalisto vs. Ryback stands to be the WrestleMania match most likely to lead to a rematch.

Kalisto pinned Ryback after the powerhouse rammed into an exposed turnbuckle. The United States champ then pounced, scoring the win to retain the title. The ending didn't come off as a climax to a story but instead an early chapter.

Add the fact that The Big Guy has had only on crack at Kalisto, and it's highly likely we get a second go-round of this matchup at Payback. Should Ryback then get a count-out win or there is some sort of non-finish, the feud for the U.S. title can wrap up with a rubber match at Extreme Rules that features a stipulation typically used for closing rivalries. 

With a short amount of time to work with and barely any of the WrestleMania fans in their seats as the bout unfolded, Ryback and Kalisto still delivered a strong showing. Expect more of the same at the next pay-per-view.

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

Shortly after John Cena made his surprise return, he and The Rock dispatched of The Wyatt Family. Bray Wyatt and The Rock had been doing all the verbal sparring before that, but the safe bet is that Cena becomes the protagonist in this story.

The Rock is expected to go back to Hollywood until his next appearance. Cena is back to carry the WWE torch.

That opens the door for Wyatt and Cena to clash again, for The Eater of Worlds to seek revenge for getting embarrassed on such a grand stage. If one believes that this being a sequel to their old feud would stop WWE, remember that the company revisited the Wyatt-Undertaker feud just a few months after it looked like it was over at WrestleMania 31.

Plus, if WWE has Cena vs. Reigns in mind for SummerSlam, having the leader of the Cenation take down a group of monsters could be a strong first step to building to that bout.

Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)

A move toward darkness awaits Roman Reigns.

The quest to make him a top babyface has been met with so much resistance that WWE will be forced to adapt. Fans inside AT&T Stadium didn't buy into Reigns' title hunt or his eventual win. Whether it comes on Monday's Raw or later, a heel turn is imminent for the new world champ.

Reigns outlasted Triple H at WrestleMania to seize the WWE title. If Triple H were a full-time star, one would assume a rematch would follow that bout.

Instead, expect WWE to scoot around logic to make the pieces of its puzzle fit. Dean Ambrose shouldn't be in title contention after losing to Brock Lesnar at The Show of Shows and Triple H at Roadblock before that.

Still, with Triple H likely to not compete until a bigger event rolls around, and Lesnar possibly heading back into hibernation, this will end up being a prime chance to pit friend against friend. Count on Ambrose challenging The Big Dog as WWE uses Reigns' betrayal of his former Shield partner to underscore his villainy.