WWE Payback 2017: Most Intriguing Storylines to Track on Road to Raw PPV

Although WrestleMania 33 has come and gone, WWE Payback 2017 looks to continue the company's recent red-hot momentum going for Raw and SmackDown Live. Coming off the newsworthy Superstar Shake-up, the event will feature talent from both brands battling for show supremacy.

Currently, no Universal Championship match is scheduled for Payback, but the pay-per-view will surely live up to its name with several scores being settled. Ruthless rivalries that have been brewing for months will finally culminate on April 30 in San Jose, California.

Among those feuds is Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman, who took their bad blood to another level on Monday night when Strowman viciously attacked The Big Dog backstage and incapacitated him indefinitely. No match has been officially announced as of now, but a rematch between the behemoths is only inevitable.

Meanwhile, Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe have unfinished business and are on a collision course toward Payback. Chris Jericho will also aim to reclaim his United States Championship from his former friend-turned-foe, Kevin Owens.

Let's look at all the intriguing angles worth keeping an eye on as the pending pay-per-view approaches.

Chris Jericho Seeks Retribution Against Kevin Owens

In a shocking turn of events, Kevin Owens severed ties with Chris Jericho in mid-February during the Festival of Friendship. There has been nothing but bad blood between the two since, leading to a WrestleMania match for the United States Championship earlier this month.

Although Jericho was on the verge of victory at one point, Owens outsmarted his former friend and subsequently beat him for the star-spangled prize. That was far from the end of their feud, however, with Owens targeting Jericho on the next night's Raw and preventing him from competing in the main event.

Jericho surprisingly resurfaced the following week and laid out his adversary to close the show. On SmackDown Live this past Tuesday, Owens announced his allegiance to the blue brand, though his Payback match with Jericho remains intact.

Their upcoming rematch was already exciting, but to raise the stakes even more, the winner of that bout will officially become a member of SmackDown in addition to holding the gold. Furthermore, they will have AJ Styles waiting in the wings as their next challenger.

We haven't seen too many Superstars jump between brands over the last year, but it's possible they invade each other's shows in the weeks preceding the pay-per-view, which should be fun.

Seth Rollins Settles a Score with Samoa Joe

At the onset of the road to WrestleMania 33, Seth Rollins was ready to seek vengeance against Triple H but was bombarded by Samoa Joe on the January 30 edition of Raw. Later that week, WWE announced Rollins had suffered an injury in the attack and would miss in-ring action for several weeks.

Ultimately, Rollins bounced back and returned to the ring ahead of schedule at WrestleMania. Not only that, he finally slayed Triple H in a non-sanctioned match and seemingly vanquished the threat of The Authority for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, he forgot about Samoa Joe, who has been anxiously awaiting his opportunity to inflict further damage on The Architect. In Rollins' absence, Joe carved out a path of destruction and annihilated the illustrious likes of Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns and Cesaro.

Rollins proclaimed in his promo on Monday night that he has the Universal Championship in his sights, but that goal will be unattainable for him as long as Joe is present in the picture. That much became evident when Joe ambushed him shortly thereafter and the two engaged in a heated brawl.

If Joe can eke out a victory versus Rollins when they inevitably clash in one-on-one competition, he could very well be next in line to challenge Brock Lesnar for his prestigious prize.

The Hardy Boyz and the Revival of Raw's Tag Team Scene

Aside from The Undertaker's apparent retirement, there was arguably no bigger moment that took place at WrestleMania 33 than the long-awaited return of The Hardy Boyz. They quickly reclaimed their spot as WWE's top tag team by beating three other tandems to become the new Raw Tag Team champions.

It didn't take long at all for them to find their next set of challengers in the form of Cesaro and Sheamus, who won a No. 1 contender's match against Enzo Amore and Big Cass on the April 3 edition of Raw to earn a shot at the straps.

Six months ago, the unlikely alliance of Cesaro and Sheamus placed two men who could hardly stand each other and were merely brought together out of a shared goal of winning gold. However, they have slowly but surely solidified themselves as a cohesive unit in recent months and have been a tremendous treat to watch in the ring.

They are former tag team champions together, having ended The New Day's record-breaking reign last December. They also own victories over The Club and Enzo and Cass, but they have never faced a duo as decorated as Matt and Jeff Hardy.

The match is bound to be an entertaining affair, but keep an eye out for The Revival as well. Raw's tag team scene has been stacked lately, and they are currently conspicuous by their absence on the Payback card.

TJ Perkins Emerges as Threat in Cruiserweight Championship Hunt

Austin Aries was oh-so-close to capturing the WWE Cruiserweight Championship at WrestleMania 33, but he fell short against Neville. Following his Fatal 4-Way match win on the April 4 edition of 205 Live, his next title shot will come at Payback later this month.

That rematch alone is intriguing, but another new development from this past week added more excitement to the mix. Aries was oddly outsmarted by his opponent TJ Perkins, but it was what happened afterward that got fans talking.

Thanks to Neville's mind games and manipulative tactics, Perkins was convinced Aries was stealing his spotlight as the crowned jewel of the cruiserweight division. Outraged by this, he snapped at The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived and displayed an aggressive attitude that hadn't been seen by him before.

Of course, this resulted in more questions than answers: Will Perkins eventually be added to the title match with his win over Aries? How will Aries respond on Raw? Has an alliance between Neville and Perkins officially been formed?

For the first time since the dawn of the division, the cruiserweights have fans looking forward to what else will happen en route to the title match on April 30.

Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman Rekindle Their Rivalry

Nothing more than a roadblock for Roman Reigns ahead of his WrestleMania match with The Undertaker, Braun Strowman faded off into obscurity for a few weeks following Fastlane in early March. Reigns beat the Monster Among Men with ease and thus the rivalry seemingly wrapped up, but Strowman remained bothered by how he couldn't conquer his archenemy.

One night removed from WrestleMania 33, he confronted newly crowned universal champion Brock Lesnar and promised to finish what he started with Reigns before going after the gold. He followed through on that threat just one week later by destroying Reigns in the backstage area and forcing him to be stretchered out of the arena.

It was an excellent angle and a wise way to position Strowman as a dominant force yet again on Raw, while allowing Reigns to show some vulnerability for a change. It is unknown when Reigns will be back in action following the injuries he "suffered," but it would be best to hold him off TV until the Payback pay-per-view.

As for Strowman, this ambush was reminiscent of when he would resurface on Raw each victim and choose a new victim to unleash his anger on. With Reigns presumably out of the picture for the foreseeable future, it will be interesting to see who else he wreaks havoc on before the event.

The build to the initial encounter between Strowman and Reigns was exceptional, and already the road to their rematch has proven to be equally engaging.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a digital journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.