WWE Payback 2016 results: Enzo Amore injury leads to show being suspended as Roman Reigns beats AJ Styles for title

WWE Payback as marred by a potentially serious injury suffered by Enzo Amore, with WWE later confirming he had escaped with a concussion

(WWE.com)

WWE Payback saw Roman Reigns find a way to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles, but the pay-per-view was marred by an injury to fan favourite Enzo Amore that resulted in the tag-team No One contenders match being abandoned.

Amore and his tag-team partner Colin ‘Big Cass’ Cassady took on The Vaudevillains for the right to face current champions The New Day, having come through an elimination tournament on Raw over the past month.

Both Amore and Big Cass took to the microphone to rile up the fans inside the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, before their opponents came out. The Vaudevillains were dominated early on, but when Simon Gotch threw Amore outside the ring, the 29-year-old bounced off the bottom rope and hit his head heavily on the ring apron before collapsing to the ground.

WWE medics ran to his attention and the match was called off in order for Amore to receive treatment, before Amore was taken to a nearby hospital. A number of Amore’s fellow Superstars tweeted their concern for his wellbeing, revealing that the injury was legitimate and not part of the storyline.

Their concern was soon relieved as WWE confirmed Amore had suffered a concussion with all other tests coming back negative, and he was released from hospital a few hours later.

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In the main event, Reigns twice thought he had held on to his title after losing to Styles by both count-out and disqualification, only for the newly unified bosses of Raw, Shane and Stephanie McMahon, to rule a no-disqualification no-count-out stipulation and restart the match.

Styles was able to keep Reigns off-balance with a flurry of attacks to his legs, before sending Reigns through a table after landing the Phenomenal Forearm.

Styles’ bid was boosted too by the interference of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, his former cohorts in Japanese Pro Wrestling, only for Reigns’ relatives Jimmy and Jey Uso to rush to his aid and even up the numbers.

When Styles attempted to land a second Phenomenal Forearm, Reigns clocked it and countered with a Superman punch to turn the tables, and he eventually pinned Styles to hold onto the title in what was possibly his best outing in the WWE to date. WWE immediately confirmed that the two will meet in a rematch at Extreme Rules, the next pay-per-view on 22 May.

So are the McMahon siblings working together now? In a way, yes and no. Vince McMahon promised that he has a “big announcement” for the WWE Universe in the run up to Payback, and he claimed that Shane was not fit to be in charge of Raw anymore – despite the visible upturn in quality and interest since his return. Stephanie pleaded her case to take over, but when Shane came out to defend himself, Vince decided to name both of them in charge of Raw for the foreseeable future, and the pair will now battle for control of the show.

Shane argues his case against his father (WWE.com)

Dean Ambrose finally got one of the big wins he’s been on the cusp of for the past year as he defeated Chris Jericho in a back-and-forth match. Ambrose took the initiative early on, but each time Jericho got on top he would slow the pace and beat Ambrose to the mat.

However, a flurry of knees to Jericho wobbled former undisputed world champion, and Ambrose clinched victory with Dirty Deeds, prompting Jericho to throw a tantrum inside the ring afterwards and suggest this feud may be far from done.

Both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn once again proved why they are on their way to the top as they competed in a thrilling match that brought to an end a feud that has lasted since their NXT days. Zayn repeatedly took the contest outside the ring, where he landed his tornado DDT through the ropes. However, when he tried a similar move off the turnbuckle, Owens countered the move into a backbreaker, though Owens suffered his fair share of pain Zayn hit him with a backdrop onto the ring apron.

Owens lands the Tornado DDT (WWE.com)

Owens began to wear down Zayn and eventually ended the match with a Pop-Up Powerbomb, before taking to the announcers table and joining the commentary team by force.

That was because the following match saw The Miz take on Cesaro for the Intercontinental Championship. Cesaro put on a thrilling display for the fans with Miz living up to his billing as the perfect villain, with wife Maryse doing her bit in distracting the referee at crucial points in the match.

Cesaro looked like he had the match won with the Crossface, but after Zayn had attacked Owens at ringside, the referee was distracted by matters elsewhere. That allowed Miz to roll-up Cesaro and retain the title, but the King of Swing retaliated after and landed the Neutraliser to leave Miz prone on the matt. Immediately after though, Cesaro was levelled by a superkick from Owens, and he hit a second Pop-Up Powerbomb on Zayn before turning his attentions on The Miz and the Intercontinental title. Miz was saved by Maryse and made a hasty exit, but it’s clear to see this quartet are not done yet.

the Miz managed to hold on to his title against Cesaro (WWE.com)

Charlotte retained the Women’s Championship against Natalya in a bizarre throwback to the Montreal Screwjob. With Bret Hart in his niece’s corner to negate the impact of Ric Flair, the irony was not lost on the crowd though, the match ended with a submission decision after Charlotte locked in the Sharpshooter – both Hart and Natalya’s finisher – yet Natalya had never tapped out. Both Natalya and Hart responded by locking their foes in a Sharpshooter themselves.

Bret Hart and Natalya lock Charlotte and Ric Flair in the Sharpshooter (WWE.com)

On the Payback pre-show, Ryback once again came up short in his long-running feud with United States champion Kalisto, with the Luchadore hitting Salida Del Sol to pick up the win. In the opening match, Dolph Ziggler got the better of Baron Corbin after taking advantage of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner’s showboating to roll him up for a schoolboy pin.

Ziggler gained revenge for his recent attacks by Corbin (WWE.com)

Results

Dolph Ziggler DEF Baron Corbin

Kalisto DEF Ryback

The Vaudevillains vs Enzo Amore and Big Cass ended in a no-contest

Kevin Owens DEF Sami Zayn

The Miz DEF Cesaro

Dean Ambrose DEF Chris Jericho

Charlotte DEF Natalya

Roman Reigns DEF AJ Styles