The 2015 Payback was the third annual Payback

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

and

livestreaming Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but n ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of ev ...

produced by WWE. It took place on May 17, 2015, at the

Royal Farms Arena CFG Bank Arena (originally the Baltimore Civic Center and formerly Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore Arena and 1st Mariner Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This venue is located about one block away from the Baltimore Conventio ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

and was the first Payback held outside of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

suburb of Rosemont,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. The theme of the event was wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents. Nine matches were contested at the event, with two matches on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event,

Seth Rollins Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Seth Rollins (often referred to as Seth "Freakin" Rollins). Prior to signing ...

defeated

Roman Reigns Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'i (born May 25, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and former football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Roman Reigns. He is the leader of The B ...

Dean Ambrose Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wres ...

, and

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. He is widely regarded as one of the grea ...

in a fatal four-way match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches, The New Day ( Big E and Kofi Kingston) defeated Cesaro and Tyson Kidd in a two-out-of-three falls match to retain the

WWE Tag Team Championship WWE (formerly the WWF, the WWWF, and Capitol Wrestling) has maintained at least one primary tag team championship for its male performers since 1958 (except for a two year interim between 1967 and 1969). During periods of brand division, separat ...

Bray Wyatt Windham Lawrence Rotunda (born May 23, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Bray Wyatt. Rotunda is a third-generation professional wrestler, fo ...

defeated

Ryback Ryback Allen Reeves (né Ryan; born November 10, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE where he performed under the ring name Ryback. One of the eight finalists on WWE's '' Tough Enough 4'', Reeves l ...

, and

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied ...

defeated Rusev in an "I Quit" match to retain the

WWE United States Championship The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the American promotion WWE, currently defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the ...

. The event sold 54,000 buys (excluding

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television t ...

views), down from the previous year's 67,000 buys.

Production

Background

Payback was an annual

(PPV) and

event that was established by WWE in 2013. The concept of the event was the wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents. The 2015 event was the third event in the Payback chronology and was held on May 17, 2015, at the

. Payback was available free to new subscribers on WWE's online streaming service, the WWE Network, as part of a 30-day free trial in over 140 countries.

Storylines

The card consisted of nine matches, including two on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes,

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, '' Raw'' and '' SmackDown''. At Extreme Rules,

retained the United States Championship by defeating Rusev in a Russian Chain match. Later in the event, after consulting with The Authority, Lana stated that Cena would defend the title against Rusev in an "I Quit" match at the event. At Extreme Rules,

defeated

in a steel cage match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after interference from Kane, Jamie Noble, and Joey Mercury. On the April 27 episode of ''Raw'', it was announced that, as a result of a vote on the WWE App, Rollins was scheduled to defend the title against Orton and

in a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

at the event. On the May 4 episode of ''Raw'',

defeated Rollins in a non-title match, and per the pre-match stipulation, he was added to the match, thus making the match a fatal-four way. On the May 11 episode of ''Raw'',

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

decided that if Rollins lost the title, Kane would no longer be the WWE Director of Operations. On the Extreme Rules Kickoff pre-show, Neville defeated

Bad News Barrett Stuart Alexander Bennett (born 10 August 1980) is an English-American professional wrestling commentator, actor, and former professional wrestler who holds both British and American citizenship. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is a colo ...

. On April 28, Barrett defeated Neville to win the

King of the Ring King of the Ring was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotion ...

tournament, changing his ring name to King Barrett. On the May 7 episode of ''SmackDown'', Neville and

Dolph Ziggler Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Dolph Ziggler, where he performs on the Raw brand. After a prolific career in amateur ...

defeated Barrett and

Sheamus Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European i ...

in a tag team match. On the May 11 episode of ''Raw'', a match between Barrett and Neville was scheduled for the event. At Extreme Rules, Ziggler defeated Sheamus in a Kiss Me Arse match. On the May 7 episode of ''SmackDown'', Ziggler and Neville defeated Sheamus and Barrett in a tag team match. On the May 11 episode of ''Raw'', Ziggler was scheduled to face Sheamus at the event. At Extreme Rules, The New Day defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to win the

Tag Team Championship A championship or title in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rivalr ...

. On the April 30 episode of ''SmackDown'', Kidd and Cesaro defeated The New Day by disqualification in a rematch for the titles. On the May 11 episode of ''Raw'', The New Day were scheduled to defend the titles against Kidd and Cesaro in a 2-out-of-3 falls

tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

at the event. On the May 11 episode of ''Raw'', The Ascension interrupted a match between

Curtis Axel Joseph Curtis Hennig (born October 1, 1979) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Curtis Axel. Hennig signed with WWE in 2007 and wrestled at their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and was ...

and

Damien Sandow Aron Steven Haddad (born August 3, 1982) is an American professional wrestler best known for wrestling with WWE under the ring name Damien Sandow. He is also known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and the independent circuit unde ...

, in the guise of Macho Mandow, and attacked both wrestlers, resulting in Axel and Mandow teaming together to attack The Ascension. A match between the two pairs was scheduled for the Payback Kickoff pre-show.

began sending messages to

in April. On the April 27 and April 30 episodes of ''Raw'', Wyatt attacked Ryback following the latter's victories over

Bo Dallas Taylor Michael Rotunda (born May 25, 1990) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Bo Dallas. Rotunda is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Blac ...

and Luke Harper, respectively. On the May 11 episode of ''Raw'', Ryback attacked Wyatt. On May 13, a match between the two was scheduled for the event. Naomi was defeated by Divas Champion,

Nikki Bella Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace (born November 21, 1983), known professionally as Nikki Bella, is an American professional wrestler and television personality. She is currently signed to WWE as an ambassador. In 2007, Bella signed with WWE an ...

, at Extreme Rules, and by Nikki's twin sister, Brie, on the April 27 episode of ''Raw''. A week later, a returning Tamina Snuka joined Naomi in an attack on both Bella Twins. On the May 11 episode of ''Raw'', Tamina defeated Brie. On the May 14 episode of ''SmackDown'', a match between the two teams was scheduled for Payback.

Event

Pre-show

During the Payback Kickoff pre-show, R-Truth defeated

Stardust Stardust may refer to: * A type of cosmic dust, composed of particles in space Entertainment Songs * “Stardust” (1927 song), by Hoagy Carmichael * “Stardust” (David Essex song), 1974 * “Stardust” (Lena Meyer-Landrut song), 2012 * ...

after a "

Lie Detector A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked an ...

". Later, " The Mega Powers" ( Macho Mandow and

) faced The Ascension ( Konnor and Viktor), which The Ascension won after a "

Fall of Man The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. * * * * The doctrine of the ...

" to Mandow.

Main card

The actual pay-per-view opened with

facing

. In the end, Sheamus performed a "Brogue Kick" on Ziggler to win the match. Next, The New Day ( Big E and Kofi Kingston) defended the

against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Kidd and Cesaro won the first fall after Kidd performed a

dropkick A dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as they jump so that when the feet conne ...

following a "Cesaro Swing" on Kingston. The New Day won the second fall after performing the "Midnight Hour" on Kidd. The New Day won the third fall after

Xavier Woods Austin Watson (born September 4, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Xavier Woods. He appeared on WWE's NXT brand as one-half of the current NXT Tag ...

sneaked in and pinned Cesaro with an inside cradle, meaning The New Day retained the title. In the third match,

faced

. After Ryback collided with an exposed turnbuckle, Wyatt executed "Sister Abigail" on Ryback to win the match. The fourth match saw

defend the

against Rusev in an "I Quit" match. At one point during the match, the fight spilled into the crowd, as well as the production area. Rusev eventually applied the "Accolade" on Cena. Cena did not quit, but passed out. Referee Mike Chioda informed Rusev that the match can only end when someone quits, so unlike a submission match, this one continued. Steel steps, a steel barricade, Cena tackling Rusev through the barricade, Cena using a laptop as a weapon and Rusev using the pyro table for an explosion all came into play during the match. In the end, Cena ended up using the ring ropes for extra torque on the STF he applied on Rusev. Lana then claimed that Rusev was saying "I Quit" in Bulgarian. As Lana was Rusev's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

, the referee obliged and Cena retained the title. Next,

The Bella Twins The Bella Twins were a professional wrestling tag team who performed on WWE and consisted of identical twin sisters Brie Bella and Nikki Bella (real names Brianna and Nicole). Each of the Bella Twins are a former WWE Divas Champion. Brie is ...

(Brie Bella and Nikki Bella) faced Naomi and

Tamina Sarona Moana Marie Reiher Snuka-Polamalu (born January 10, 1978) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Tamina. She is a one-time WWE Women's Tag Team Cham ...

. The match ended when Naomi executed the "Rear View" on Nikki to get the win. In the penultimate match, Neville faced

King Barrett Stuart Alexander Bennett (born 10 August 1980) is an English-American professional wrestling commentator, actor, and former professional wrestler who holds both British and American citizenship. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is a colo ...

. In the end, Barrett was intentionally counted out. Following the match, Barrett attacked Neville, including putting on his royal attire, but Neville gave Barrett a

German suplex A suplex is an offensive move used in sport wrestling as well as amateur wrestling and professional wrestling. It is a throw that involves lifting the opponents and bridging or rolling to slam them on their backs. Professional wrestling feature ...

and performed the " Red Arrow" on him.

Main event

In the main event,

defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against

, and

in a fatal four-way match. During the match, there was a mini-Shield reunion when Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose performed their signature triple powerbomb on Orton through a broadcast table. Rollins then wanted the group to reunite, however Reigns and Ambrose attacked him. Kane interfered to aid Rollins. Reigns and Ambrose executed a powerbomb on Kane on top of Rollins, who was on another broadcast table. Reigns and Ambrose performed another powerbomb on Kane sending both Kane and Rollins through the broadcast table. Ambrose and Reigns then started to wrestle each other. Reigns missed two Superman punches, but finally connected the third one on Ambrose. Reigns performed a

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...

on Ambrose and made a cover, but Rollins broke up the cover. Ambrose performed "Dirty Deeds" on Rollins and made a cover but Kane pulled Ambrose out of the ring, voiding the pinfall at a two count. Kane attacked Ambrose with the steel steps and performed a chokeslam on Reigns onto the steel steps. Orton executed " RKOs" to both Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury, and performed a

spike DDT Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

on Rollins. Orton then prepared for an "RKO", but Kane would try to interfere, only to receive an "RKO". Rollins capitalized and executed a "

Pedigree Pedigree may refer to: Breeding * Pedigree chart, a document to record ancestry, used by genealogists in study of human family lines, and in selective breeding of other animals ** Pedigree, a human genealogy (ancestry chart) ** Pedigree (anim ...

" on Orton to retain the title.

Results

References

External links

* {{WWEPPV, Payback

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

2015 in Maryland 2015 WWE Network events Events in Baltimore Professional wrestling in Baltimore 2015 WWE pay-per-view events May 2015 events in the United States