WWE Payback 2017: Results and observations from the show

The final episode of Raw leading into Payback was nothing spectacular, but WWE made up for it by putting arguably its best pay-per-view effort of 2017 with a very entertaining and eventful outing at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

Before I dig into my full analysis, here are the full match results from the 2017 edition of Payback:

- Kickoff match – Enzo Amore & Big Cass def. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

- WWE United States championship – Chris Jericho def. Kevin Owens

- WWE Cruiserweight championship – Austin Aries def. Neville by disqualification

- WWE Raw Tag Team championship – Hardy Boyz def. Sheamus & Cesaro

- WWE Raw Women's championship – Alexa Bliss def. Bayley

- House of Horrors match – Bray Wyatt def. Randy Orton

- Seth Rollins def. Samoa Joe

- Braun Strowman def. Roman Reigns

Strowman nearly kills Reigns … again

In a perfect world, Strowman beating Reigns would have been a forgone conclusion, but given WWE's history, it was far from it.

WWE still gave Reigns the out of entering the match at less than 100 percent, as Reigns was still selling his injuries from the epic beating Strowman handed him a couple of weeks ago and worked the match with basically one arm because of it, but a loss is a loss and Strowman stood tall at the end of the night.

But like Strowman always says, he was not done with Reigns yet.

Strowman continued to dismantle Reigns after the match by attacking him with the steel steps and even drove a set straight into Reigns' chest, which caused the former WWE champion to cough up blood and rendering his protective vest even more useless.

Officials and doctors attempted to get Reigns on a stretcher, but he opted to walk out under his own power instead.

But Strowman still wasn't done yet.

Reigns managed to walk all the way to the ambulance, but before he could get in it, Strowman charged at him from out of nowhere.

Fortunately for Reigns he ducked out of the way, which sent Strowman crashing through one of the ambulance doors and into a wall of boxes.

I know the moment was supposed to be ultra serious, but I could not help but laugh at the site of Strowman barreling into a wall of boxes.

Strowman stumbled back to the ambulance, which prompted Reigns to slam one of the doors into him multiple times. Strowman took a couple of hits before running away. I guess he was finally done with Reigns.

There was so much to digest here and I have to say that the vast majority of it was awesome. The match itself was very good. Strowman was his usual monstrous self and Reigns did a masterful job of selling his injured arm.

I applaud the decision to have Reigns still selling the injury weeks after the beating. WWE usually doesn't bother to do anything like that, but it was necessary for this match.

Forcing Reigns to work with essentially one arm enhanced the story he and Strowman could tell in the ring.

Everything that happened after the match was great as well. The only part I had a problem with was the ambulance scene, which I thought was WWE's way of having Reigns sort of save face after being decimated during the match.

I know that part of the angle wasn't on pay-per-view — it aired on Raw Talk on the WWE Network — but I still think it was unnecessary.

But even with that, Strowman had a banner night at Payback. The win made him even stronger than he already was and gave him some steam if he is actually set to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal title.

At this point, it is the only logical next step in Strowman's progression. He has proven he can hold his own every step of the way until this point and WWE suddenly has a budding star on its hands because of it.

Bliss made history

Bliss became the first in WWE history to hold both the Raw and Smackdown Women's championships Sunday night when she defeated Bayley to attain the feat.

Bliss not only made history, but she provided further proof that homefield advantage means nothing to WWE, as Bayley was yet another member of WWE's roster to lose in their hometown.

I have always been a fan of Bliss going back to her days in NXT, but even I could not foresee her reaching this plateau this quickly.

But despite being short in stature and experience, Bliss has blossomed into a top name in WWE's women's division.

As much as I can shower Bliss with praise, I feel compelled to do the same for Bayley, as she had what was arguably Bliss' best match to date.

When you really think about it, Bayley has had a lot of other people's best matches during her time in WWE and NXT. Her match with Sasha Banks at the first NXT Takeover: Brooklyn is still the best women's match I have ever seen, but Bayley has also gotten very good matches out of the likes Nia Jax, who like Bliss, is inexperienced in the wrestling business.

Bayley can essentially have a good match with anyone that is remotely talented and she had another one with Bliss at Payback.

The Trap House of Horrors

After weeks of wondering what a House of Horrors match actually was, we finally found out at Payback.

So, what was it? It was pre-taped match in a dingy house that was presumably in the middle of nowhere.

It began with a limo pulling up to a creepy-looking house in the middle of the night. This was clearly not happening live as it aired, as it was bright and sunny outside in San Jose.

Regardless, we got a camera shot from inside the limo and saw that Orton, who was already shirtless, was sitting inside. He got out and spotted a supernatural tractor moving on the front lawn with no one behind the wheel.

I guess this was WWE's version of a dilapidated boat. As a matter of fact, this was WWE's version of Final Deletion. Let's just get that out of the way right now.

Anyway, Orton finally made his way into the house and what a house it was. It didn't really look like a house full of horrors. To me, it looked like a trap house and Wyatt was using it to run his drug ring.

I say that because WWE did a good job of making the place look as filthy as possible. There were even dirty dishes in the sink.

Orton and Wyatt eventually went at it inside the house in a fight that featured a lot of production worthy of not being nominated for an Emmy.

The fight itself was exactly what you would expect. There was really nothing special about it. It was really just two guys fighting in a house that was badly in need of some furniture polish and a vacuum.

I found it funny because I do have an affinity for B-rated horror movies and this reminded me of that. I usually don't like when WWE goes in that direction because it almost never pulls it off, but I'll give the company credit for doing a decent job here.

The only thing worth remembering was Wyatt tipping over a refrigerator over onto Orton. Wyatt then left the house and took Orton's limo to the arena.

Orton was left to die under the fridge I guess.

Surprisingly, this is when things began to get weird for me.

Wyatt entered the arena with his usual entrance, but once he turned the lights back on Orton was already behind him in the ring. I guess Orton is supernatural now, too.

The fight continued until everyone's favorite wrestler Jinder Mahal showed up with the Singh Brothers and attacked Orton. Mahal's attack allowed Wyatt to hit Sister Abigail and win the first (and hopefully only) House of Horrors match.

The weird thing about this was that after all of that hype, it eventually wound up looking like everything else on the card, as it merely ended in the ring and even had someone interfere.

And speaking of that interference, that was the only reason why Wyatt won. Orton hit him with an RKO before Mahal showed up, which means Wyatt can't even win the match that he created without help.

Some people may have loved this and some people may have hated it. I lean more toward the latter side, but the hate isn't really all that intense. I'll probably never watch this again, but I did laugh a good deal.

I think most fans would be happy to know that the feud between Orton and Wyatt, which began last October, is finally over.

Thank goodness.

Sheamus and Cesaro turn heel

Matt and Jeff Hardy defeated Sheamus and Cesaro to retain their Raw Tag Team titles, but didn't look like winners after the match when Sheamus and Cesaro beat the living daylights out of them and effectively made a heel turn.

The match itself was a lot of fun, but looked rather painful for the four men involved. Jeff Hardy got the worst of it, as he had his tooth knocked out after Sheamus penalty kicked him right in the face.

The two teams shook hands after the match, but Cesaro finally blew his lid and attacked Jeff Hardy. That prompted Sheamus to do the same to Matt Hardy.

I loved all of this.

I liked Sheamus and Cesaro together as babyfaces, but them being a tough heel tag team sounds like a lot of fun to me.

Sheamus and Cesaro have the potential to be what Anderson and Gallows should be, but are not due to WWE's poor booking of them.

Plus, it breathes some new life into their characters. There really wasn't much else Sheamus and Cesaro could do together as babyfaces. Now as heels they essentially get to hit the reset button.

Jericho won the United States title, is headed to Smackdown Live

I spent a good 20 minutes on Twitter clearing up the confusion that came after this match, so I am going to clear this up once and for all right here.

Owens is a member of the Smackdown Live roster. He became a member via the Superstar Shakeup. He was United States champion at the time so the title went with him.

Smackdown Live didn't get the United States title. It got Owens. The title just so happened to come along with him and became a Smackdown Live title.

The problem was that Owens was still booked to face Jericho in a rematch for the United States title. Jericho was a member of Raw, but when Jericho won the title at Payback, he was instantly switched to Smackdown Live.

WWE made that abundantly clear leading up to and during the match, but yet I saw a bunch of people wondering if Owens was going back to Raw because of the loss. It's like everyone forgot about the Superstar Shakeup.

Regardless of the outcome, Owens was staying on Smackdown Live. He is a Smackdown Live wrestler and Jericho is now, too.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by all of the confusion, as WWE created a lot of it with the Superstar Shakeup.

With that said, I believe Jericho got the title so there could be a rematch between he and Owens on an upcoming episode of Smackdown Live. Since Jericho is due to tour with his band Fozzy soon, I believe that match will be his last.

As far as the Payback match, it was a lot of fun. I love how Jericho and Owens are incorporating Owens' finger into the story and essentially having it decide matches.

After Owens got his fingertip on the rope at WrestleMania, he did it again at Payback. Jericho took care of that problem quickly by bashing the steel steps into Owens' hand.

Jericho got Owens into the walls of Jericho again later in the match. Owens reached for the rope with his injured hand, but was unable to stretch it far enough.

Instead of just reaching with his other hand, Owens tapped out.

Finn Balor wants the Universal title back

I wasn't expecting anything interesting to happen with Finn Balor on Miz TV, but I was wrong.

I thought it was interesting when Balor finally let it be known that he wants the Universal championship — a championship that he never lost — back.

The Miz informed Balor that Brock Lesnar is the current champion and that he has no chance of beating the beast incarnate. Balor didn't seem to care, which made me believe that WWE could be heading toward a Balor-Lesnar match at some point.

I know Strowman's win at Payback would make him Lesnar's next logical challenger, but WWE didn't plant that seed for nothing, right? If Balor vs. Lesnar is the plan I think it could be one of WWE's most intriguing matches in recent memory.

Obviously, Lesnar is a much larger man than Balor. Let's face it. Balor is smaller than a lot of people on the WWE roster, including some of the cruiserweights.

What Balor lacks in size he makes up for in charisma, presence and the "cool" factor.

I know some people may not think Balor going against Lesnar is remotely believable, but neither is anyone else in professional wrestling when you really think about it.

No, Balor would not defeat Lesnar in a real fight, but no one else in WWE would either. Not even Reigns would stand a chance in a real fight against Lesnar despite what WWE may want you to believe.

In professional wrestling, however, you can get away with a smaller guy beating a bigger guy. As they say, it is just as fictitious when a wrestler wins as when the same wrestler loses.

Granted, Lesnar facing Balor may feel more fictitious than other matchups, but it's all fictitious at the end of the day anyway.

Vaughn Johnson has a podcast with Nick Piccone called the Straight Shooters. Check it out here HERE.