WWE Payback 2020 Results: Winners, News And Notes On August 30, 2020

WWE Payback 2020 featured multiple title changes as a heel Roman Reigns won the Universal Championship, Bayley and Sasha Banks lost the Women’s Tag Team Championships to Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax and Bobby Lashley beat Apollo Crews for the United States Championship.

Friday’s episode of SmackDown garnered 2.181 million viewers, essentially even with the week prior. Raw hit post-WrestleMania numbers with 2.028 million viewers for the Monday night debut of ThunderDome.

WWE Raw Ratings—Last Five Weeks

• August 24, 2020—2.028 million viewers
• August 17, 2020—1.643 million viewers
• August 10, 2020—1.722 million viewers
• August 3, 2020—1.715 million viewers
• July 27, 2020—1.617 million viewers

• August 28, 2020—2.181 million viewers
• August 21, 2020—2.198 million viewers
• August 14, 2020—2.002 million viewers
• August 7, 2020—1.962 million viewers
• July 31, 2020—1.894 million viewers

WWE Payback 2020—Key Competition

• NBA Playoff Slate
• MLB Regular Season Slate
• MTV 2020 Video Music Awards

Pro Wrestling Bits—WWE Payback 2020 Match Card Predictions

WWE Raw Total YouTube Viewership this Past Monday

12,657,652 views (Down from 12,714,159)

• Most-Viewed: Dominik and Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins and Murphy (1,888,045 views) 
• Least-Viewed: R-Truth vs. Alexander vs. Benjamin vs. Tozawa (212,840 views)
• Median Viewership: 848,402

WWE SmackDown Total YouTube Viewership this Past Friday

9,579,209 views (Down from 11,204,516)

• Most-Viewed: Roman Reigns turns to Paul Heyman ahead of WWE Payback (2,797,107 views) 
• Least-Viewed: Kalisto vs. Cesaro (215,341 views)
• Median Viewership: 450,639

WWE Payback 2020 Results—Sunday, August 30, 2020

Bobby Lashley def. Apollo Crews

WWE now has a post-match photograph montage (equipped with sound effects and all), the first of which featured several pictures of Bobby Lashley posing with the United States Championship.

Apollo Crews losing in this spot is the absolute wrong decision considering the progress he was making.

Big E def. Sheamus

Sheamus should be wearing his trench coat and hat to the ring. I think that’s been the one missing piece keeping him from reaching the next level his whole career.

Big E is so fun to watch in the ring.

Big E sported boots in honor of legendary ‘90s Nickelodeon show All That.

Big E needs to stop doing that spear to the outside because he’s one injury away from never getting another shot like this again.

These two got a lot of time in a very good pay-per-view match won by Big E and I love to see it.

Matt Riddle def. King Corbin

WWE needs to scale back on making Matt Riddle cut these long promos.

WWE is officially incorporating Matt Riddle’s personal life into his ongoing storyline with Baron Corbin as Corbin took a shot at Riddle being “a failure at home.”

There were one or two brief moments during this match where it legitimately seemed like Baron Corbin was headed for victory. That helped the drama, and ultimately the match.

Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax def. Bayley and Sasha Banks—WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships

This match built to Shayna Baszler telling Nia Jax “we can win!” and Nia responding with “we got this!” it was a legitimately sweet moment between the bitter enemies.

Bayley was the star of this match.

The finish to this match was Shayna Baszler submitting Bayley and Sasha Banks simultaneously with Bayley tapping out. This sets up so many different storylines.

Keith Lee def. Randy Orton

Keith Lee’s entrance gear will be the subject of many a Viking Raider joke on Twitter.

Keith Lee’s quick victory was the only result that could have undid the damage done from this past Monday.

WWE needs to resist any and all temptation in getting Randy Orton his win back.

Dominik and Rey Mysterio def. Seth Rollins and Murphy

Seth Rollins and Murphy coordinated their gear better than most tag teams on this roster, including the father and son they faced tonight.

As Seth Rollins went for the pin late in the match, Tom Phillips shouted that “it could be for the Mysterio legacy!” Very much an overstatement for a tag team match at a secondary pay-per-view.

Seth Rollins spent so much time taunting Rey Mysterio at the end I knew there was no way he could be going over.

Every time Murphy disappoints Seth Rollins it seems like WWE teases a split, but this latest tease felt more real.

Dominik and Rey Mysterio could make one helluva tag team. Dominik teaming with his father could also add years to Mysterio’s career while allowing Dominik to develop at a steady pace.

Roman Reigns def. Braun Strowman and The Fiend—WWE Universal Championship

The Fiend has sold more these past two Sundays than he has in the last year. I never thought I’d hear the words “weakened Fiend” so early in The Fiend’s run.

In a storyline update, Alexa Bliss continues to twist new dreadlocks.

Roman Reigns has just set the template for what anybody should do in a Triple Threat situation—hold out until halfway through the match and sign when your opponents are weakened.

Braun Strowman and The Fiend finally made good use of bells and whistles to improve their one-on-one matches.

The ring implosion gimmick never gets old, and it hit here again tonight, even with an empty arena.

If there was any doubt as to whether or not Roman Reigns is a heel, this match hammered that point home with a steel chair.