WWE Payback 2015: Booking Mistakes That Must Be Avoided

While it may seem like that is quite a bit of time to work out any kinks along the way, keep in mind that there are only a handful of television episodes in which to fully set things up—chiefly the two episodes of Monday Night Raw.

That doesn't leave much room for error and can lead to a rush job. In that case, the end result would likely be riddled with problems that hinder the show greatly.

To navigate around as many obstacles as possible, WWE must plan ahead and not fall victim to many of the mistakes done in the past when there was a small window between shows.

In that process, there are a few things that immediately stand out as potential headaches that could easily turn into migraines and ruin the pay-per-view.

Don't Simply Rinse and Repeat

Only two matches have been properly announced so far with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line in a Triple Threat match and the United States Championship up for grabs in an I Quit match.

Out of the six men involved in those, five of them have already faced off at the past two events, if not more.

Randy Orton was victorious over Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, but lost to him at Extreme Rules. To help spice things up a bit, Roman Reigns has been added into the mix, but that isn't exactly breaking new ground considering all the tag team matches they've all been involved in recently.

Even worse, though, is that John Cena and Rusev will be having their fourth singles match together for the United States title, tossing all thoughts of a rubber match "best of three" concept being the end of their feud out the window.

 

Credit: WWE.com

Was this during the build for Fastlane, WrestleMania, Extreme Rules or Payback?

One of the biggest drawbacks to having so much programming in WWE is that a lot of it ends up being a repeat of what the audience has already seen. Whether it be rewinds and flashbacks to old segments or just the same match done to death, it just keeps happening.

At a certain point, people get tired of watching what's become familiar over and over again.

Even when ignoring the years beforehand that the same story has been told of Cena getting beaten down and then finding the courage and willpower to get up and win, this has been the exact case with Rusev specifically for months now.

Is it really necessary to watch that for a fourth time when the outcome is fully known? It would just be going through the same motions.

These matches are probably set in stone and will not change, but WWE can't just fill the rest of the card up with the same booking mentality.

Yes, it's bad to abandon feuds too quickly, but an entire event consisting of nothing but rematches feels superfluous. Why watch it if you've already seen it?

Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus shouldn't have a generic singles match, nor should Neville and Bad News Barrett or Nikki Bella and Naomi unless there is a valid reason to repeat outside of laziness to come up with an alternative.

When thinking of what other matches to put on the lineup, WWE needs to put some fresh ideas out there and not simply rehash what has been done for months on television.

Don't Wait Until the Last Minute for Match Announcements

If the build to a pay-per-view is meant to get the fans excited and interested in checking out the show, it needs to be advertised in a way that gives the audience a chance to anticipate watching it.

One of the biggest killers for intrigue is the absence of something to be intrigued about.

The longer WWE waits to announce some of the matches, the more it looks like the creative team only cared enough about the two mentioned above and everything else is an afterthought.

Sure, those are the marquee matches that will grab the most attention, but if they are all that matters, there's no point in investing four hours into the program.

After all, if two half-hour segments are all WWE can muster up the energy to care about promoting, why should fans care about seeing what else is so clearly filler that can be ignored?

Whenever it boils down to only a few days before an event and WWE quickly announces the majority of the matches to bulk out a thin card, it always reeks of desperation.

It's as if the creative team suddenly woke up Monday morning and realized that only a small portion of the show was booked and went into panic mode, then scrambled to add matches retroactively based on what has happened the previous week on Raw.

Movie trailers are released well in advance to get people talking and let their anticipation snowball, rather than announcing that a film is coming out later that week and hoping everyone hears the message.

If you happened to miss the go-home episode, you'll have no clue what feuds you should be interested in checking out that weekend on the pay-per-view.

With Bray Wyatt essentially spitting out utter nonsense for the past few weeks and then picking a fight with Ryback—who has had no real interaction with him lately—WWE is running out of time to make this mean something beyond just retaliation for a miniscule attack.

 

Credit: WWE.com

It seems like Bo Dallas has more grounds for a feud against Ryback than Bray Wyatt at this point.

For Extreme Rules, WWE waited so long to officially cut Daniel Bryan from the card that there wasn't enough time to make the replacement match have a more significant purpose than being a consolation prize.

Luckily, that match ended up being entertaining, but the situation created more pressure for it to deliver than necessary. It had to fight an uphill battle against the prejudice of looking like the backup plan that wasn't good enough to be the first choice to sell.

Fans should be heading into an event feeling that a great show is definitely in store for them because WWE will do what has been advertised, instead of being hopeful and trusting that the missing puzzle pieces will show up and fall into place.

Don't Overcomplicate Things

Planning ahead is a necessity, but many times, too much of it can be counterproductive instead of helpful.

One big mistake WWE needs to avoid is running into an issue where the event itself is inhibited by overbooking.

The Superstars in WWE should be expected to deliver on their performances and craft a good show in their own rights without having to be micromanaged and babied each step of the way.

Meddling too much with how a segment is supposed to go down often leads to an oversaturation of ideas.

For example, with the Steel Cage match at Extreme Rules, so many stories were being told that they got in the way of each other. Was the priority focal point the banning of the RKO, the possible interference of J&J Security blocked by the cage, or Kane's role as the gatekeeper while disliking Rollins?

When all things were said and done, Kane's story overruled everything else. In the end, Orton's inability to use his finisher barely came into play.

Sometimes, it's better to let the matches speak for themselves and not saddle them with too many outside factors.

Yes, the stacked deck helped build to the pay-per-view, but the shows themselves still need to be able to do the job.

The ends justify the means in many ways and just as the last match of the night can ruin what came before it by leaving a bad taste in your mouth, a bad setup can be forgiven if the finished product is good.

Alternatively, a great setup with a poor payoff will be even more disappointing because fans got their hopes up.

It's important to also keep in mind that while simplicity can be boring, making something complex for the sake of it isn't a surefire guarantee that it will be better by default, either.

Too often, complexity leads to an erratic mess that gets in the way of a straight line that would have accomplish something more efficiently.

There's a fine line between booking the same way for Cena to defeat Rusev time in and time out in comparison to concocting some convoluted method to end the match just to avoid making either person look weak.

Don't book Ziggler and Sheamus in a Kiss Me Arse match if you don't want the winner to do what the stipulation states. Think of the ending you want to do and then work backward.

 

Credit: WWE.com

Somehow, it doesn't seem like Dolph Ziggler is the winner here.

Don't Forget About Money in the Bank and SummerSlam

It's not all about working backward from the intended results of the pay-per-view, but also about looking forward.

In the end, if everyone is honest with each other, Payback is pretty much the textbook definition of a B-level event.

At its best, even if the card looks fantastic going into the show, it still won't be viewed by the general audience as something special that cannot be missed because it just isn't one of the priority pay-per-views.

WrestleMania has a different mystique than anything else in the company, but even Royal Rumble has more weight to it than something like Night of Champions.

Two of the biggest shows of the year directly follow Payback: Money in the Bank and SummerSlam. Those two cannot be ignored and Payback should whet the audience's appetite for them, not take anything away.

WWE is a progressive company that is always supposed to build up to the next show and those two are some of the most important of the entire year. There's no reason not to use Payback to help prepare the audience for Money in the Bank as much as possible.

Theoretically, if Payback has a match for a vacated Intercontinental Championship, WWE should make sure the man who walks out with the title is the person that will hold it going into SummerSlam.

The main talent that will be used to promote SummerSlam should look strong at Payback just the same as Money in the Bank rather than rushing to accomplish two months of credibility at the latter show alone.

With proper foresight, there shouldn't be any instances of needing to backpedal when setting up Money in the Bank to correct a mistake.

WWE has its work cut out for it to truly set up a great pay-per-view in Payback 2015, but if the above mistakes don't come into play, there's as good of a shot as there ever will be that it can be pulled off.

What problems do you see WWE running into with Payback? What steps would you take to ensure those errors don't occur? Tell us what's on your mind in the comments below!