WWE Payback 2017 Matches: Grading Hype Level for Each Announced Match on Card

The perfect build to a match creates excitement, generates intrigue and encourages anticipation for the event on which it will occur. Lack thereof is responsible for a lethargic product that lowers expectations and creates indifference.

Sunday night, the WWE's Raw brand will present its Payback pay-per-view live from San Jose, California, with a main event of Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman. While that match has fans eager to see which direction WWE Creative takes it in, a lackluster build and nonexistent hype for the remainder of the card threatens to diminish its significance.

How did the hype for what could be a show essential to the build to this summer's top matches, rivalries and Superstars earn such a negative reputation ahead of its presentation on April 30?

Take a look with this preview of the WWE Network production.

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

Braun Strowman has feasted on Roman Reigns like an overzealous kid on a McDonald's Happy Meal in the weeks ahead of Payback. He tossed the former three-time WWE champion around like a rag doll, shoved an ambulance over and left Reigns a mangled mess of skin and bones ahead of Sunday's main event.

The Monster Among Men has gone straight Godzilla on the WWE Universe, stomping on and devouring any and all unfortunate enough to encounter him. It has been an effective tool in building anticipation for a match fans have seen as late as February at Fastlane.

Now, Reigns vs. Strowman is built on the former returning from injuries sustained when Strowman wheeled him off a ledge while strapped to a stretcher and to the concrete floor below.

Can Reigns summon the superhero comeback typically reserved for Superman and John Cena, topple the oppressive mountain of a man and reclaim his throne atop the WWE Universe?

Grade

A

Why?

The story is simple, effective and should result in the hottest reaction Sunday night in San Jose.

Westling history suggests Reigns will rise to the occasion and exorcise the largest demon in the WWE. Whether his body allows this superhero to overcome the reign of dominance by the living, breathing equivalent of Marvel's Abomination is the question.

House of Horrors Match: Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt

A charismatic cult leader whose penchant for mind games and parlor tricks failed him on wrestling's grandest stage, Bray Wyatt now invites WWE champion Randy Orton to his House of Horrors, where he will look to dispatch of The Viper and avenge his greatest humiliation.

The cerebral Orton, unfazed by the theatricality of his opponent, will seek to deliver his RKO to Wyatt and eliminate that burden from his career for good.

What started a tale straight out of a horror movie, the disciple turning the tables on the leader and burning everything he held dear to the ground, has lost its momentum thanks to a Superstar Shake-up that sent the Superstars in different directions.

It has hurt the story and diminished the significance of the match considerably.

The rescinding of the WWE Championship stipulation has only further damaged the importance of the contest.

Grade

C-

Why?

The poor quality of the WrestleMania killed any desire to see the Superstars work together again. That Wyatt's credibility was diminished significantly only added to the issues surrounding the match. Throw in the aforementioned Shake-up and you have a story WWE Creative clearly quit on a week after wrestling's grandest event.

United States Championship Match: Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens

Good friends turned bitter enemies.

That is the story at the heart of Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens' hotly anticipated WrestleMania 33 match. The Prizefighter would win that match, relieving Y2J of his United States Championship.

A rematch was immediately booked for Payback, Jericho seeking to ensure his loss at The Showcase of the Immortals was not the exclamation point on the rivalry. Unfortunately, a Superstar Shake-up diminished the heat behind the rivalry and sent Owens to SmackDown, leaving the rivalry to limp into San Jose.

Grade

D

Why?

The story behind this one is somehow even more disjointed, lackadaisical and uninteresting than the debacle accompanying Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt's embarrassment.

Jericho was left alone to hype the match while Owens was already over on SmackDown planting the seeds for an upcoming rivalry with AJ Styles.

That is hardly the way to get the fans invested, especially when they assume the outcome is a foregone conclusion.

Raw Women's Championship Match: Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss

Until the Superstar Shake-up that changed the landscape of the WWE for the remainder of the year, Bayley appeared poised to combat the unstoppable force that is Nia Jax in the Raw Women's Championship match at Payback.

When Alexa Bliss made the jump from SmackDown Live to Raw, WWE Creative discarded Jax like the old, beat-up toy kids toss aside in favor of the shiny new one on Christmas morning. Bliss quickly became No. 1 contender and seemingly took all of Jax's television time.

On the April 24 episode of Raw, Bliss cut a scathing promo on Bayley that may have rung a little too true, generating cheers from an audience that should have been throwing its support behind the champion and not her lead antagonist.

As Payback prepares to hit the WWE Network airwaves, the egotistical Bliss is the more interesting of the two characters competing for the top prize in female professional wrestling.

Grade

D

Why?

There isn't enough content to grade the build any higher.

Bliss showed up one week, won a Triple Threat match to earn a title shot and cut a nasty promo on Bayley. That is the extent of the hype surrounding the match.

Will it be good? Sure. Both Bayley and Bliss are strong professional wrestlers, but the lack of story behind the match will likely hurt the fan reaction and atmosphere.

Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Hardy Boyz vs. Cesaro and Sheamus

Conquering heroes returned from a long exile to capture the Raw Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 33 as Matt and Jeff Hardy defeated Sheamus and Cesaro, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows and Big Cass and Enzo Amore in a Fatal 4-Way Ladder match.

After defeating Amore and Cass in a No. 1 Contender's match, Cesaro and Sheamus seek to regain the titles they once held with pride as they battle the future Hall of Fame champions Sunday night at Payback.

The brothers Hardy have repeatedly had their opponents' numbers. Jeff defeated Cesaro in singles competition while Matt bested Sheamus. In both instances, the frustration expressed by The Swiss Superman and Celtic Warrior was obvious and has some thinking "heel turn."

Can the once-proud champions keep calm and soldier on come Sunday night or will one more loss drive them to take desperate measures?

Grade

B-

Why?

This is a deceptively solid story.

The simplicity of it all, with former champions experiencing both frustration and a little jealousy in the wake of the Hardy Boyz' return, makes for a compelling story that fans can easily follow.

More importantly, it creates genuine interest as to whether or not Cesaro and Sheamus will allow their emotions to get the best of them come Sunday night.

Cruiserweight Championship Match: Austin Aries vs. Neville

At WrestleMania 33, Neville bested Austin Aries in a phenomenal wrestling match that ended when the conniving King of the Cruiserweights capitalized on A-Double's previously established eye injury, exploited it and scored the victory.

In the weeks since, the story has not necessarily intensified or evolved but, rather, has remained steadily consistent, with Aries hellbent on avenging his loss in Orlando.

In the final week before Payback, submissions took center stage. Neville pummelled Jack Gallagher with his Rings of Saturn finisher, while Aries responded with the Last Chancery on the champion.

Grade

C+

Why?

The biggest issue with the hype for Aries vs. Neville is that it never progressed from what it was prior to WrestleMania. It has been three weeks of brawling interactions but nothing of any real substance. Aries is no more driven than he was prior, and Neville is not the ruthless aggressor he once was.

That hurt the ability to drive interest or anticipation.

Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe

Seth Rollins was brutally and viciously attacked prior to WrestleMania, his knee left in shambles by a ruthless hitman named Samoa Joe. The former NXT champion revealed himself the Right Hand of Destruction as he choked The Architect out at the behest of Triple H.

Rollins would recover from a knee injury in time to vanquish The Game at the biggest event of the year but almost immediately found himself opposed by Joe in the wake of the spectacular.

Verbal assaults and a brief brawl on the April 24 episode of Raw made up the extent of the feud, with no further exploration of the issues between the two Superstars. While the match will likely be a show-stealing effort from two of the best in-ring competitors in today's WWE, the hype certainly has not been.

Grade

C

Why?

After the red-hot angle on January 30 that saw Joe injure Rollins, the feud has become one-dimensional. While intense, nothing WWE Creative has mustered up for the Superstars has done nearly enough to incite excitement or anticipation for their showdown on WWE Network.

Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson

Enzo Amore and Big Cass have seen Karl Anderson and Luke Cass countless times in 2017 with Anderson and Gallows regularly getting the best of the babyface duo, sometimes in Raw Tag Team Championship matches.

The April 17 episode of Raw saw the former champions pick up a convincing win then, one week later, the heels brutally assaulted Amore and took him out of a huge Six-Man Tag Team match.

Now Sunday, the babyfaces are looking for revenge as they square off with Anderson and Gallows on the Payback Kickoff Show.

Grade

D

Why?

This is a match that exists for the sake of existing. The hype was nearly nonexistent. Instead of an interesting angle or story fans can point to as the reason for caring, there is nothing to generate any emotion whatsoever in regards to the bout.

Neither team benefits, fans are lethargic and the result is a throwaway affair.