Chris Jericho fights Kevin Owens at ‘Payback.’ (WWE.com)
Payback, the latest WWE pay-per-view, is just a few hours away. So how long is this event going to be, exactly? When does it start and end?
Like most WWE pay-per-views, Payback is expected to be three hours long. It begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time and will conclude at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time, although because this is airing on the WWE’s own network, they’re usually a bit flexible with the end time, and the show might wrap up a few minutes before or after 11.
If you include the kickoff show, Payback is actually four hours long, as the pre-show begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That’s probably something you’re going to want to watch, particularly if you’re a fan of Enzo Amore, Big Cass, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, as those four will be having a tag team match before Payback officially starts.
The kickoff show is also going to feature a Miz TV segment in which The Miz interviews Finn Balor. Rarely is there an actual promo segment taking place during a kickoff show, as opposed to just a match, but fans are definitely going to want to hear what Finn Balor has to say a few weeks after his return to the WWE.
We never know for sure heading into a pay-per-view what the order of the matches will be, and so if there are just one or two matches that interest you, you can’t exactly just tune in at a specific time to see them.
However, it’s a pretty safe assumption that the main event will be the match between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. This is the match on the card which has received the largest build by far, and the WWE clearly considers Roman Reigns to be one of their top performers, as he has now main-evented WrestleMania three years in a row.
The match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt will also likely come in the third hour, although this isn’t even a title match, so that isn’t guaranteed. The second-to-last match could instead go to the Women’s Championship match between Bayley and Alexa Bliss.
Finally, it’s probably safe to assume that the Raw Tag Team Championship match will come in the first hour, as the tag team match traditionally comes towards the beginning of the show.
Payback will be available to watch live tonight on the WWE Network.