WWE Payback 2016: Results and observations from the show

It is rare that WrestleMania, WWE's grandest show of the year, is upstaged by the pay-per-view that follows it.

However, one of those rare occasions occurred Sunday night when Payback, an event that is usually rather forgettable, was actually better and more eventful than WrestleMania.

Yes, there were more than 100,000 people at WrestleMania and we got appearances from Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, but none of that stuff really meant much other than to create another nostalgic moment.

As a matter of fact, a lot of things that occurred at WrestleMania didn't have any real meaning.

Yes, WrestleMania boasted a lot more pomp and circumstance, but that is the norm for WrestleMania. At least it should be.

I feel comfortable in saying that Payback was better than WrestleMania. That is because there was a lot more intrigue heading into the show than WrestleMania and the show left me looking forward to whatever is going to happen next, especially at Extreme Rules in a couple of weeks.

WWE may have underwhelmed fans with WrestleMania, but I believe the company made up for it with a very good showing at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

Before I go any further, here are the full match results from the event:

- Dolph Ziggler def. Baron Corbin

- WWE United States championship – Kalisto def. Ryback

- Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady vs. The Vaudevillains ended in a no contest

- Kevin Owens def. Sami Zayn

- WWE Intercontinental championship – The Miz def. Cesaro

- Dean Ambrose def. Chris Jericho

- WWE Women's championship – Charlotte def. Natalya

- WWE World Heavyweight championship – Roman Reigns def. AJ Styles

Roman Reigns-AJ Styles feud is not over

I expected to get some kind of resolution from this match, but we didn't get that at all.

In fact, this story is seemingly just beginning.

As most expected, Reigns found a way to retain his WWE World Heavyweight championship after a tremendous match with Styles.

But Reigns' title defense came with a lot of shenanigans — even more than I expected.

First, there were the two times the match ended with Styles technically winning, but not winning the championship. First he won by count-out, but Shane McMahon ordered the match to be restarted, but with no count-outs.

Styles won again after Reigns was disqualified after an inadvertent low blow. This time, Stephanie McMahon came out and ordered the match to be restarted, but this time with no disqualifications.

Are you following me here? There is more. By the way, there is a reason why both Stephanie and Shane McMahon made those decisions. I'll get to that in a few.

After those shenanigans were out of the way, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows ran down and attacked Reigns. No, they did not turn on Styles like everyone expected. They simply helped Styles and that was it.

The Usos then ran down to even the odds for Reigns. After some great action, Reigns hit Styles with a spear to retain the title, but a lot happened on the way to the finish.

Right after the match, Vince McMahon met with his two children to discuss what was going to happen moving forward. The McMahon siblings both agreed that Styles had earned himself a rematch for the title because of his performance at Payback.

Shane McMahon thought it would best if the rematch took place at Extreme Rules in an extreme rules match. Stephanie McMahon agreed and we already have our main event for the next pay-per-view.

Was this fully satisfying? Well, sort of. The match was great, but I figured there would be some type of resolution coming from this. However, I am happy to see that there will be a rematch.

I know some people were expecting a Finn Balor sighting. Hold your horses, folks. When it happens, it will happen. Be patient. I have a feeling that there is a bigger story at play here and he will play a role in that. The only question is which role.

Outside of the match, the thing I like about this the most was that I am genuinely looking forward to what happens next, and maybe what happens next is a resolution at Extreme Rules.

Time will tell.

Shane and Stephanie McMahon will run Monday Night Raw

Yes, Vince McMahon's big decision as to which one of his children he would give control of Monday Night Raw turned out to be both.

That's right, he didn't chose one or the other. He gave control of Monday Night Raw to both Stephanie and Shane McMahon. So in essence, everyone wins.

I know, I know. You all thought that this was obviously leading to a brand split where one McMahon takes control of Raw and the other takes control of Smackdown. I tried to tell you all that wouldn't happen. You didn't listen.

Now, why didn't I think that would happen? That's because there wouldn't be any conflict/heat moving forward.

Vince McMahon even said it himself at Payback. He said he figuratively wanted blood and for Stephanie and Shane McMahon to figuratively cut each other's throats. He basically wants conflict. How would that happen if one McMahon has control of the red show and the other has control of the blue show?

There is no heat in that. But you give them both control of Raw and they are forced to work together in some cases and undercut each other in others, there is conflict.

Now, is this ideal? I wouldn't say so. There probably could have been better ways to handle this. Ways that I'm not creative enough to come up with, but this does create some sort of conflict moving forward and conflict is what professional wrestling is all about.

Wrestling would not be good if everyone got along in symbiotic relationships. There needs to be a schism (I love that word) and now we all have it with this storyline.

Tag team tournament final ends abruptly

Although this event was very, very good, it got off to a very rough start when Enzo Amore suffered an injury that caused the opening match to be abruptly end in a no-contest.

Amore suffered a concussion, but overall seems to be doing fine after a visit to a nearby hospital, but this was unfortunate not only for Amore, but for everyone involved.

Here are two teams that just got called up from NXT and they are in the opening match of their first pay-per-view with a lot at stake. Both teams are looking to steal the show and what happens? Someone gets seriously injured and the match ends after maybe five minutes.

I even felt bad for The New Day, who were sitting ringside on Bean Bag chairs eating pizza. This was the final match of their tournament and it ended with a freak accident. I guess the match could happen again at some point, but who knows how long it will be until Amore is cleared to get back into the ring again?

WWE is very strict when it comes to its concussion testing and protocols and rightfully so. Concussions are obviously very serious and it looked like a very serious situation for Amore at ringside.

This is was just horrible timing for all involved and I hope that everyone can bounce back.

Women's title match ends in Chicago screw job

I know some people did not like this finish, but I found it to be hilarious.

In a nod to the 1997 Survivor Series, Charlotte retained her WWE Women's championship after putting Natalya in the sharp shooter with Bret Hart at ringside. The referee then quickly called for the bell and awarded Charlotte the match. The only problem was that Natalya never actually submitted.

What we had here was a good old-fashioned screwjob. Except this time the referee was not Earl Hebner. It was Charles Robinson, better known as Little Naitch.

Robinson is called Little Naitch due to his resemblance to a young Ric Flair and is legitimately a big Flair fan. Robinson even wrestled alongside Flair during their time in World Championship Wrestling.

So it was only fitting that he was the one to pull off what is being referred to as the Chicago Screwjob.

A screwjob is not an original idea, but it is rather unique to the women's division and in a strange sense it actually adds importance to the WWE Women's championship.

Bear with me for a moment.

The Montreal Screwjob in 1997 happened during a WWE title match. The title was so important that Vince McMahon went out of his way to make sure Hart did not leave Montreal that night with the title belt.

Now, these are obviously very different and less realistic circumstances, but to me, it makes the Women's title seem so important that Charlotte and Flair went out of their way to ensure that she kept it, going as far as to enlist their main man Little Naitch to put the screws to Natalya and Hart all over again.

Hey, you may not like it, but this was much better than when the Divas title meant so little that you couldn't remember the outcome of the title match at a pay-per-view.

We all know what happened here and it only made Charlotte look like an even bigger heel. The day she finally loses that title — whether it'd be to Natalya or someone else — it will cause quite the pop from the fans. I feel fairly certain about that.

Intercontinental championship suddenly means something again

Right after WrestleMania I said the Intercontinental title resided in a fictitious town I like to call Jobberville, which is where a lot of the WWE roster resides due to 50/50 booking and a lot of other things.

I am happy to announce that the Intercontinental title has moved out of Jobberville and has settled in another fictitious town I like to call Importantville, which is where very few members of the WWE roster reside, but everything here is important to WWE and is featured heavily on television.

The Intercontinental has moved back to Importantville because two matches made the title mean so much again.

Let us begin with the grudge match between Owens and Zayn. This was arguably the best match on the card and that is saying something considering it followed Amore's injury, which sucked the life out of the building.

Owens and Zayn not only regained the crowd, but they stole the show in the process.

The finish, however, was a little (very little) disheartening because Owens won without using any real heel tactics. He just flat-out beat Zayn, which I did not think would happen.

However, what we actually got was pretty good, too.

After the match, Owens attacked Zayn and then demanded Byron Saxton get up from his announcing position to interview him in the ring.

Owens said that now that everyone saw him defeat Zayn, he could refocus on getting back his Intercontinental championship. That is good. I like when people make it clear they want a specific title.

Owens is then informed by Saxton that the Intercontinental title match between The Miz and Cesaro was coming up next, which prompted Owens to stay and announcement the match and scout.

While Owens was being hilarious on commentary, The Miz and Cesaro had a very good match as well. Eventually, Zayn came back out and attacked Owens at the announce desk. Owens and Zayn eventually fought their way onto the apron, which distracted the referee just as The Miz was tapping to the sharp shooter from Cesaro.

Cesaro then knocked both men off the ring apron, but was rolled up by The Miz to pick up the win.

If this means a fatal four-way for the Intercontinental championship is on the way then sign me up.

On one hand, I would like to see a one-on-one rematch between Owens and Zayn, but if their feud bleeds into the Intercontinental title scene then I'm all for it. I always thought that Owens and Zayn should have been feuding for the title anyway.

Then you add Cesaro and The Miz into the equation and it should make for some quality television over the secondary title.

Isn't that what we've always wanted?