The 2020 Payback was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the sixth Payback and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it took place on August 30, 2020, from the WWE ThunderDome, a bio-secure bubble that at the time was hosted at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The concept of the event was based around wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, a returning Roman Reigns, in his first match since February 2020, defeated defending champion "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman, who Reigns pinned, in a No Holds Barred triple threat match to win SmackDown's Universal Championship. In the preceding match, Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio defeated Seth Rollins and Murphy. In other prominent matches, Keith Lee defeated Randy Orton, and the team of Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defeated Bayley and Sasha Banks to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.
This event is notable for marking the beginning of Roman Reigns's second Universal Championship reign, and the final reign for the title itself. The reign lasted for 1,316 days, ending at WrestleMania XL Night 2 on April 7, 2024. This set the record for the longest Universal Championship reign, also becoming the fourth-longest world championship reign in WWE history and the longest reign for any WWE championship since 1988. Midway through the reign at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, Reigns also won Raw's WWE Championship, with both titles held and defended together as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Upon Reigns's loss of the undisputed title at WrestleMania XL, the Universal Championship was officially retired in favor of the WWE Championship, which became known as the Undisputed WWE Championship.
This was the first Payback held since 2017, which made it the first to feature multiple brands during a brand split after the 2017 event was held exclusively for Raw. It was also the first and only to be held in August, as the prior five events were held between April and June. This would also be the final Payback held until 2023, subsequently making it the final to livestream on the American version of the WWE Network, which merged under Peacock in April 2021.
Production Background
Payback was a professional wrestling event that was established by WWE in 2013. It was originally broadcast exclusively via pay-per-view (PPV) before it began simultaneously livestreaming on the WWE Network in 2014. The concept of the event was based around wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents. The event ran annually from 2013 to 2017; the 2017 event was also held exclusively for wrestlers from Raw. Payback was expected to return in 2018 for SmackDown, but following WrestleMania 34 in April that year, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPV and livestreaming events for the main roster, resulting in the reduction of these events produced per year, thus also discontinuing Payback.
On July 31, 2020, PWInsider reported that WWE would be reinstating Payback for the following month on August 30. The sixth Payback was then officially announced during the August 14 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, confirming the reported date, which marked the first Payback to be held in August as all prior events were held between April and June. As a result of the discontinuation of brand-exclusive PPV and livestreaming events in April 2018, the 2020 event featured wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown, marking the first Payback to feature multiple brands during a brand split.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in mid-March, WWE had to present the majority of its programming from a behind closed doors set. Initially, Raw and SmackDown's shows were done at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. A limited number of Performance Center trainees and friends and family members of the wrestlers were later utilized to serve as the live audience. PWInsider initially reported that Payback would also be held at the Performance Center, but just a week prior to the event, all of Raw and SmackDown's programs were moved to a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome, which at the time was hosted at Orlando's Amway Center. The select live audience was no longer utilized as the bubble allowed fans to attend the events virtually for free and be seen on the nearly 1,000 LED boards within the arena. Additionally, the ThunderDome utilized various special effects to further enhance wrestlers' entrances, and arena audio was mixed with that of the chants from the virtual fans.
Storylines The event comprised eight matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
On the August 14 episode of SmackDown, it was revealed that Bayley and Sasha Banks would defend the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at Payback. Their opponents were revealed on the August 24 episode of Raw; the team of Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.
At SummerSlam, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeated Braun Strowman to win the Universal Championship for the second time. Following the match, Roman Reigns made his return after a five-month hiatus and viciously attacked The Fiend and Strowman, turning heel for the first time since 2014. The following day, it was announced that The Fiend would defend the title against Strowman and Reigns in a no holds barred triple threat match at Payback. On that Friday's SmackDown, WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon assigned producer Adam Pearce to obtain signatures from the three competitors for their match by the end of the night. After obtaining Wyatt and Strowman's signatures, Pearce located Reigns, where it was revealed that he had aligned himself with Paul Heyman. Reigns affirmed he would be at Payback and win the match. However, he did not sign the contract.
On the August 24 episode of Raw, after attacking WWE Champion Drew McIntyre with two Punts, Randy Orton, who lost to McIntyre at SummerSlam, wanted another rematch for the title, but he was interrupted by former NXT wrestler Keith Lee, making his Raw debut. On behalf of McIntyre, Lee challenged Orton to a match only for Orton to decline. However, the two fought each other later on, with Orton winning via disqualification after McIntyre attacked him. Orton later attacked McIntyre backstage with a third Punt, taking McIntyre out. A rematch between Lee and Orton was subsequently confirmed for Payback.
At SummerSlam, Seth Rollins (who was accompanied by his disciple Murphy) defeated Dominik Mysterio (who was accompanied by his father Rey Mysterio) in a Street Fight. The following night on Raw, Rey and Dominik defeated Rollins and Murphy by disqualification when Retribution attacked the Mysterios. A rematch between the two teams was scheduled for Payback.
At SummerSlam, Apollo Crews defeated MVP to retain the United States Championship. The following night on Raw, Crews was scheduled to defend the title against MVP's stablemate of The Hurt Business, Bobby Lashley, at Payback.
On the July 17 episode of SmackDown, after Matt Riddle failed to win the Intercontinental Championship, he was attacked by King Corbin. The two continued their feud over the next few weeks and on the August 28 episode, a match between the two was scheduled for Payback.
On the August 14 episode of SmackDown, after Big E won his match, he was attacked by Sheamus. A match between the two took place the following week, where Big E won. On August 29, another match between the two was scheduled for Payback.
On August 29, after weeks of feuding with each other, a match pitting Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan against The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) was scheduled for the Kickoff pre-show.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael Cole Corey Graves Tom Phillips Samoa Joe Byron Saxton Spanish commentatorMarcelo RodriguezRing announcersGreg Hamilton Mike Rome RefereesDanilo AnfibioShawn BennettJessika CarrDan EnglerDarrick MooreEddie OrengoChad PattonCharles RobinsonInterviewersCharly CarusoKayla BraxtonAlyse AshtonPre-show panelCharly CarusoJohn "Bradshaw" LayfieldPeter RosenbergBooker TJerry Lawler
Pre-show During the Payback Kickoff pre-show, The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan) faced The IIconics (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay). In the end, Morgan performed the Jersey Codebreaker on Kay followed by Riott performing a Riott Kick on Kay to win the match.
Preliminary matches The actual pay-per-view opened with Apollo Crews defending the United States Championship against Bobby Lashley (accompanied by MVP and Shelton Benjamin). After a competitive match, Lashley forced Crews to tap out to the Full Lashley Lock to win the title for a second time. Following the match, Crews attacked Lashley and stated that he would win his title back.
Next, Big E faced Sheamus. In the end, Big E performed the Big Ending on Sheamus to win the match.
After that, Matt Riddle fought King Corbin. In the climax, Riddle performed the Floating Bro on Corbin to win the match. Following the match, an irate Corbin attacked Riddle during a backstage interview.
In the next match, Bayley and Sasha Banks defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. In the closing moments, Baszler applied the Kirifuda Clutch on Bayley while simultaneously applying the death lock on Banks. As Banks attempted to poke the eyes of Baszler, Baszler used Banks' own arm to choke Bayley, who tapped out, to win the titles. Following the match, an elated Jax and Baszler celebrated their victory in the ring while a disappointed Bayley and Banks sat at ringside.
Next, Keith Lee faced Randy Orton. During the match, Orton would constantly taunt Lee by stating that Lee should respect him. Outside the ring, Lee threw Orton on the announce table. In the climax, as Orton attempted an RKO, Lee countered into a Spirit Bomb to win the match.
In the penultimate match, father-and-son team, Rey and Dominik Mysterio faced Seth Rollins and Murphy. In the climax, as Rollins attempted a Powerbomb on Mysterio, Mysterio countered out of it, throwing Rollins back. Murphy (the legal partner) then accidentally kicked Rollins in the head, taking him out. Dominik then took advantage and performed a 619 and a splash on Murphy to win the match.
Main event