Randy Orton faces Bray Wyatt at Payback 2017. (WWE.com)
When the WWE held its brand split in 2016, the majority of the company’s pay-per-views became exclusive to one brand, with there now being Raw and SmackDown Live specific events. Yet Payback, the upcoming pay-per-view, seems to have both brands on it, so is this a Raw or a SmackDown show?
Payback was originally marketed as a Monday Night Raw exclusive event, and it seems that it still is with the exception of one match: the House of Horrors match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. On April 10th, Bray Wyatt was drafted to Monday Night Raw, but Randy Orton is still a part of the SmackDown Live roster.
Wyatt announced this week that he would be challenging Randy Orton to the WWE World Championship at Payback. This WrestleMania rematch had previously been announced, but it was presumed that it would occur at a SmackDown Live show.
WWE.com later made it official that the Orton and Wyatt match is taking place at Payback.
So what’s the reason for having a match for the SmackDown title on Raw? One possibility is that the WWE doesn’t like the idea of having a pay-per-view in which a top title is not defended. At this time, Brock Lesnar is not expected to have a match for the Universal Championship at Payback, and so having a World Championship match will in some way fill that void.
Though it’s not official yet, there’s also the possibility that there will be another cross-brand match at Payback: the United States Championship match between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. Kevin Owens is rumored to be traded to SmackDown Live, which would make sense, as Dean Ambose, the Intercontinental Champion, is now on Raw.
The WWE has already officially announced the Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho match for Payback, which leaves a few possibilities. This match may happen as scheduled, in which case this Raw “exclusive” event will have two SmackDown Live stars on it. Another possibility is that the match won’t happen at all. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has been reporting that the Owens vs. Jericho match at Payback will not actually end up taking place at Payback, though he was not clear on the details of why.
The other matches that have been announced for Payback so far are Neville vs. Austin Aries and The Hardy Boys vs. Sheamus and Cesaro.
Payback will be broadcast live on the WWE Network on Sunday, April 30th.