WWE Payback 2017 (2017)
April 30, 2017Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Adam Scherr
Braun Strowman
Joe Anoa'i
Roman Reigns
Windham Rotunda
Bray Wyatt
Randy Orton
Randy Orton
Kevin Dunn
Director
Kevin Dunn
Director
Colby Lopez
Seth Rollins
Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe
Media.
Details.
Release DateApril 30, 2017
StatusReleased
Wiki.
The 2017 Payback was the fifth annual Payback professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held primarily for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw brand division. The event took place on April 30, 2017, at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Due to that year's Superstar Shake-up (draft) that occurred just two weeks before Payback, the event included two interbrand matches with wrestlers from SmackDown as the matches had been scheduled before the Shake-up occurred. It was the final Payback event until 2020, as Payback was expected to return as a SmackDown event in 2018, but following WrestleMania 34 that year, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs, which resulted in the reduction of yearly PPVs produced. The theme of the event was wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Braun Strowman defeated Roman Reigns. In other prominent matches, Raw's Bray Wyatt defeated SmackDown's Randy Orton in a House of Horrors match, which was a cinematic match, and Seth Rollins defeated Samoa Joe to end his undefeated streak since joining the main roster. The event also saw two titles change hands: in the opening bout, Raw's Chris Jericho defeated SmackDown's Kevin Owens to win back the United States Championship, thus transferring Jericho to the SmackDown brand, and Alexa Bliss defeated Bayley to win the Raw Women's Championship, becoming the first woman to hold both the Raw Women's Championship and SmackDown Women's Championship.