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‘WWE Payback’: Which Superstar Can Steal The Show?

By Ernest Shepard
Published on: 03:51 PST, May 17, 2015

WWE’s Payback pay-per-view is just a few hours away. Barring a last-minute change, the card is set and the superstars are ready to go. Which of them will steal the show tonight?

The main event is a now rare Fatal Four-Way match for the WWE title. It is one of three matches that will be for a belt. The others are John Cena defending his United States Championship against Rusev in an “I Quit” match, while Tyson Kidd and Cesaro look to take the Tag Team titles away from The New Day. Their match is a two-of-three falls affair.

The remainder of the card is solid and features several former title holders in various matches. There is the up and coming tag team The Ascension on the kickoff show. They are looking at building some steam and legitimacy in order to stake a claim as future title contenders. Look for them to take it to Curtis Axel and Macho Mandow tonight. The star of this match may turn out to be Mandow.

Macho Mandow, formerly Mizdow, the stunt double for The Miz, is saddled with yet another tag team partner. His terrific in-ring ability is overshadowed when he is involved in tag team contests. That said, look for him to do a few things that will catch your attention. His tag team breakup with The Miz should have propelled Mandow to upper mid-card status, but it did not. Instead, Mandow will wow viewers in the WWE’s free wrestling showcase.

Neville is another superstar that your attention should gravitate to. The Inquisitr already hinted that the WWE will be looking at Neville making a big push up the company’s ladder. His match against Bad News Barrett will be looked at as a “get him over” contest. There is no better way to showcase Neville’s ability than to have him squaring off with a big name. Win or lose, Neville will come out looking good at WWE Payback.

To understand what the WWE is doing with some of its talent is a head scratcher, especially in the tag team division. Over the last few years, the tag teams have typically comprised of two superstars who the WWE could not put their collective heads together and generate a good buzz. The results have been mixed.

For every team like Kidd and Cesaro, a tag team that has good in-ring chemistry, you have several teams like Rybaxel, which consisted of Ryback and Curtis Axel. With The New Day, the WWE somehow got it right.

What to do with Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods? That is what the creative department had to ponder months ago. Each guy was talented in their own right. They had earned their places on Raw, but with the roster steady growing how could showcase these guys?

The answer was to put them together and create The New Day.

For a while, the buzz did not match the in-ring connection each superstar had. The WWE had seemingly an epic fail on their hands. They made The New Day a gospel, child-free gimmick that did not pan out. An article on Grantland goes on to explain what difference a change makes for The New Day. A win tonight may propel them to greater heights.

Of all the WWE superstars on the Payback card, Dean Ambrose will steal the show. He is one of four combatants for the WWE title tonight. What is working in his favor is that he does not have to win the match, according to the Bleacher Report’s Sebastian Maldonado, he must avoid being pinned.

This is the moment Ambrose envisioned during his career, and it is tailor made for him to make a statement.

Many felt that it was Dean Ambrose, not Roman Reigns, who should have won WWE Superstar of the Year. He is a wrestler who fans can relate to. Since he can work well as a face or a heel, that makes it all better.

Ambrose’s moves inside the squared circle are fluid, and he proves to be every bit of the “lunatic fringe” that he is billed as being. Of all of the WWE superstars who will perform well, look for Dean Ambrose to somehow steal the show and be the one that everybody is talking about during the Payback aftermath.

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